New Brunswick Liquor, Cannabis N.B. stores accepting cash-only due to security concerns

New Brunswick Liquor and Cannabis N.B. locations are now accepting cash only for purchases, following a potential security threat.

On Wednesday, N.B. Liquor announced on social media that all corporate stores were temporarily closed "due to point-of-sale system issues," and suggested customers turn to agency stores and grocery store locations instead. 

Lori Stickles, CEO of N.B. Liquor and Cannabis N.B., said in a statement that their security controls detected "some anomalies" in their system late Tuesday night and they began "investigating a potential cyber threat."

"As a preventative measure while the investigation progressed we made a decision to take down our systems. Our systems will remain down until we have confirmed that there is no further threat, and we are working as quickly as possible to restore full service at our stores," she said.

WATCH | N.B. Liquor says investigation under way:

N.B. Liquor stores closed while ‘cyber threat’ investigated

14 hours ago

Duration 0:46

Corporate N.B. Liquor stores are closed for a second straight day, but agency stores remain open, and Cannabis N.B. is offering cash purchases.

Late Thursday afternoon, the corporation updated the situation to say all stores "are now open for cash transactions only."

Cannabis N.B. was also impacted by the security threat, however, those locations were only ever reduced to cash-only transactions. 

N.B. Liquor has 40 corporate retail outlets, 91 private agency store outlets, 92 local producer agency stores, and 67 grocery stores selling wine, cider and beer, according to its website. It also employs roughly 600 people.