Imagine this: you’re a restaurant owner, everything is ready for the lunch rush, but something’s not right… there’s no chicken. The cause? A cyberattack. That’s exactly what happened on the North Shore recently, when a cyberattack on food distributor Colabor disrupted deliveries to several restaurants.
A real situation with real impacts
In July 2025, Colabor was the victim of a cybersecurity incident that disrupted its delivery services. Fast food restaurants, such as Poulet Frit FDI in Sept-Îles and Dixie Lee in Baie-Comeau, had to adjust their operations accordingly. Shortened menus, temporary closures, and reliance on other suppliers: the effects were quickly felt.
Colabor nevertheless managed to resume most of its activities within a few days. However, this episode demonstrates how even a brief interruption at a key partner can complicate a company’s operations.
And this phenomenon is not limited to the food sector. In manufacturing, a breach in an inventory management system can lead to major production delays. In the service sector, a compromised booking platform can shut down an entire business for several days. The common thread is technological dependence, which is often underestimated.
An increasingly interconnected supply chain
Today, even the smallest companies depend on a complex ecosystem of suppliers, digital services, logistics partners, and shared platforms. A disruption at one of them can have unexpected repercussions: delays, overworked teams, difficulty responding to customers.
It’s not a question of fault or negligence. Cyberattacks are evolving, targeting a variety of organizations, and often exploiting indirect vulnerabilities. It is therefore important for SME leaders to ask themselves a simple question: “Are we prepared if one of our partners faces an IT crisis?”
Towards greater operational resilience
Fortunately, there are simple and accessible measures that can increase your ability to respond. First, it is useful to identify critical partners: key suppliers, hosting providers, shared management systems. For each one, you can define an alternative plan, even if it is only a rough outline: another supplier, a temporary manual procedure, a priority support contact.
Next, it is recommended that you test these plans from time to time. An annual incident simulation (such as a supplier being unavailable for 48 hours) can reveal weaknesses that need to be corrected. This also promotes team agility.
Another important lever is documentation. Too many companies still rely on the memory of a few key employees. Maintaining clear and shared documentation on emergency procedures, access, and partner contact details is a simple but powerful form of prevention.
Finally, certain technological solutions can support these efforts. There are resilience dashboards, crisis management tools, and even monitoring services for critical suppliers that alert you in the event of a known incident.
A constructive awareness
The Colabor case is not an isolated incident or an anomaly. It reflects the daily challenges of an interconnected world, where technology facilitates operations but also requires shared vigilance.
For Quebec SMEs, this reality can become an opportunity to consolidate their practices, better understand their dependencies, and structure simple but robust responses.
The goal is not to expect the worst, but to better integrate business continuity into management reflexes. As with any other form of risk, the key lies in preparation, anticipation, and the ability to respond quickly.
If this article echoes concerns you have in your business, the specialists at Mon Technicien can help you assess your digital risks, prepare a continuity plan, or implement cybersecurity best practices tailored to your situation. Our team is already working with many Quebec SMEs to strengthen their IT resilience.
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