Coca-Cola, the beverage behemoth that makes everything from fizzy sugar water to fancy dairy, has confirmed that one of its subsidiaries got hacked. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company announced that its Fairlife dairy brand was hit by ransomware, forcing it to temporarily halt production across the United States. Because nothing says 'fresh milk' like a cybercriminal holding your pasteurization system hostage.

Fairlife operations in Canada, however, are apparently sipping lattes unaffected, likely because the hackers couldn't be bothered to learn metric. Coca-Cola, a company with tentacles in carbonated drinks, water, and dairy, expects Fairlife to rake in about $4 billion in sales by 2024 - assuming ransomware doesn't become a permanent ingredient.

This isn't the first time the food and beverage industry has been soured by cyberattacks. Past incidents at Arizona Beverages in 2019 and food distributor UNFI last year caused weeks of production chaos and empty grocery shelves. Because nothing says 'we value your business' like a hacker turning your supply chain into a game of digital whack-a-mole.

Coca-Cola hasn't specified when Fairlife's systems will be restored, leaving us to wonder if the hackers demanded payment in milk or just a lifetime supply of Diet Coke.