VF Corp hit by cyberattack as IT systems are taken offline

VF Corporation, the owner of apparel brands Vans, The North Face and Timberland, announced on Monday that it has detected "unauthorised" activity in its IT systems which has led to the loss of personal data, causing shares to tank.

Shares dropped over 7% to $18.50 shortly after the opening bell in New York.

VF Corp said that the hack, by an unknown "threat actor" disrupted business operations by encrypting some IT systems, and stealing data from the company, including personal data.

The incident is expected to have a "material" effect on operations until recovery efforts are completed, but it is not yet known what financial impact the attack will have.

"Upon detecting the unauthorised occurrences, the company immediately began taking steps to contain, assess and remediate the incident, including beginning an investigation with leading external cybersecurity experts, activating its incident response, and shutting down some systems," the company said in a regulatory filing.

It is now working to bring the impacted the affected systems back online and implement workarounds for certain offline operations, so it can continue to serve retail and ecommerce shoppers and wholesale customers.

"VF-operated retail stores globally are open, and consumers can purchase available merchandise, but VF is experiencing certain operational disruptions. Consumers are able to place orders on most of the brand e-commerce sites globally, however, the company’s ability to fulfill orders is currently impacted," the company said.