COTT SYSTEMS OUTAGE – DECEMBER 2022 (ONGOING)

LAST UPDATED: 2023-01-27 14:41:03

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesFriday – January 27, 2023 – 9:34 AMThis message is to notify you that your periodic data transmissions to LCRAA have been restored and will be monitored. We will continue to update you as applicable functionality becomes available.Please contact Cott Customer Support if you need further assistance.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Weekend Support HoursFriday – January 27, 2023 – 7:29 AMDear Valued Customer,Should you need assistance, this weekend Customer Support will be available on Saturday 9:00 – 5:00 eastern.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesWednesday – January 25, 2023 – 10:20 AMThis message is to notify you that the following services have been enabled.1. Merge to Indexing
2. Civil and Criminal efiling
3. Verdict Transmit Services for:a. LexisNexis Export
b. TransUnion Export
c. Explore Information Services ExportWe will continue to update you as applicable functionality becomes available.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Notice on eSearchMonday – January 23, 2023 – 4:21 PMBelow are a few notes on the current situation with images:Some offices have reported that they have a large amount of unavailable images. You are welcome to call Support if you have not reported it already, but we are still not done validating and releasing all images, and an unlucky few seem to have a sizable portion still waiting to be cleared. As eSearch is now standing, we can throw more resources at finishing up the remaining images. Please bear with us. If you have NO images available and have not already reported it, please do so right away. You are welcome to call/text/email me – I have a direct contact for this exact issue, and will escalate it so it can get priority attention. For all other issues, please contact Cott Support. Only for local customers with hosted eSearch: We are not transferring images at the moment, so anything entered since the outage started will remain unavailable for a little while longer. I do not have an ETA, but we are working on it. I appreciate how stressful all of this is for you; please do not hesitate to reach out if you feel there is anything I can do to help. Thanks!Michelle Browne | Account Manager
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) (614) 776-0724 c) (225) 252-1243
e) mbrowne@cottsystems.com | web) www.cottsystems.com

Notice on eSearchMonday – January 23, 2023 – 1:52 PMGreat news! The email confirmation from Support is rolling out now – external eSearch is back up! If you have any issues, please call Support – they are dealing with a high volume of tickets, so calling them directly is the best bet for a timely response. Please be aware that we’re right around 95% done validating images, so a small percentage are still unavailable at this time.Thanks!Michelle Browne | Account Manager
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) (614) 776-0724 c) (225) 252-1243
e) mbrowne@cottsystems.com | web) www.cottsystems.com

Notice on eSearchMonday – January 23, 2023 – 1:45 PMDear Valued Customer,This message is to notify you that your external eSearch is now available for access to you and your constituents. Please note the following:• All indexing data is accessible.
• Not all images are available for viewing. As images are validated they will become visible to you and the users.
• An alert message has been placed on your site notifying users that not all images are available.We will be sure to update you as more functionality is enabled. Please contact Cott Customer Support should you need further assistance.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Notice on eSearchMonday – January 23, 2023 – 12:38 PMGood morning!It’s not much, but I wanted to share the information I’ve been able to gather this morning. First of all, I’ve had several offices concerned about where they are on the list to receive eSearch. There is no reason for that concern; when we bring up eSearch, every office will go live at once.Secondly, as far as our progress, all I know is that we continue testing. We have already addressed a few issues uncovered by our testing, and the team is being as thorough as possible – it’s a complicated system with lots of moving parts, and the last thing we want is to restore access only to have it break down.Unfortunately, I still do not have an ETA on when eSearch will be up, but it is our top priority and we are fervently working on it. Once that is done, we will work on restoring integrations (export to LCRAA, Supreme Court, TransUnion, etc.). I will continue to provide you with updates as I learn more.Thanks!Michelle Browne | Account Manager
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) (614) 776-0724 c) (225) 252-1243
e) mbrowne@cottsystems.com | web) www.cottsystems.com

Notice on eSearchFriday – January 20, 2023 – 9:45 AMGood morning!It has been brought to my attention that external eSearch is being tested today. There’s a chance it will pop up temporarily as we run these tests, but it is not yet fully verified and is still not available as this time. Please wait for official confirmation from Cott that the site is ready before directing any of your customers to it. I still do not have an ETA on when it will be up, but we are making progress. Please continue to bear with us.Thanks!Michelle Browne | Account Manager
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) (614) 776-0724 c) (225) 252-1243
e) mbrowne@cottsystems.com | web) www.cottsystems.com

Weekend Support HoursThursday – January 19, 2023 – 5:06 PMDear Valued Customer,Should you need assistance, this weekend Customer Support will be available on Saturday and Sunday 9:00 – 5:00 eastern.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesWednesday – January 18, 2023 – 5:45 PMDear Valued Customer,As everyone worked hard to complete the past three weeks of work, we did notice slowness and temporary connection issues mid-day today. This was a result of simultaneous high demand. We made a few changes and will see how those changes improve your system’s performance tomorrow.We will continue to make enhancements through the upcoming weeks as all applications and services are brought back on line.Please look for future communications coming from Customer Support.It has been an emotional few weeks! Thank you again for your understanding and for your continued business.Wishing everyone a healthy 2023.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesTuesday – January 17, 2023 – 4:54 PMDear Valued Customer,I am happy to inform you that all Cott hosted users have been enabled. We are definitely not done activating all of our services, but knowing that all offices are now on-line is a relief!Each supporting service and integration is now being examined and will be re-established throughout the week. External eSearch is a priority. Please look for upcoming emails as these additional applications and services go live.Thank you for working with us and welcome back!Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

System AvailabilityMonday – January 16, 2023 – 7:38 PMDear Valued Customer,This message is to notify you that your system has been cleared to begin processing documents.Initial validation has completed on your system, and the following applications will now be available for use by you and your staff:1. Resolution3 with eRecording
2. Verdict Civil
3. Verdict Criminal
4. Internal eSearchIntegrations with other applications or entities are not yet fully operational. Please note that some images that were saved before today are not yet available. You will, however, be able to view all new images saved from today forward immediately.We will be sure to update you as more functionality becomes available.Please contact Cott Customer Support if you need further assistance.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesSunday – January 15, 2023 – 5:58 PMDear Valued Customer,Cott will have customers back on-line with basic functionality over the next few days. Rather than wait for all customers and all services to be functional before we “go-live” we will be notifying each of you individually as your service becomes available.We will send a notice directly to the customers who have been cleared to begin processing starting later today and on an ongoing basis. The notices will go to the same recipients who have been receiving these communications.Customer Support will be available on Monday if you have questions once your service is active.Thank you for working with us!Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesSaturday – January 14, 2023 – 5:14 PMDear Valued Customer,Today the team continues methodically validating each of our file servers that contain the system images. Once a server is validated, it is connected to our applications where testers will run the application(s) to ensure that all is working normally. These are the steps that must be completed for each customer prior to going live.Cott intends to have all customers back on-line next week. Because file servers are being cleared and applications tested one at a time, we will bring customers on-line as the process is completed versus everyone at once. Once the team works through the night and the day tomorrow, I will know more details regarding an actual “go-live” schedule to share with you tomorrow.At least we know now that the final steps are being taken! I’m sure you will agree that it has been a difficult week of waiting!Thank you for your patience.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesFriday – January 13, 2023 – 5:03 PMDear Valued Customer,We continue to make progress. The staff will be working all weekend with our third-party specialists. I have been assured that they are moving through our millions of files containing data and images as quickly as possible.I will update you when I have more details to share.I wish you a pleasant weekend and am very sorry this is taking so long.Thank you for your patience.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesThursday – January 12, 2023 – 5:06 PMDear Valued Customer,We made good progress today! Finally, with the additional infrastructure equipment integrated, we have about 70 percent of our virtual servers fully functioning. I know you are seeking a timeframe for when your office will be fully functional – as am I! I have not been given the exact day, but based on today’s progress, I am hopeful it is soon!Tomorrow, our business partners and agencies with whom we integrate will receive a statement. Click here to view the copy of the information they will be receiving. It will be going to them via email. You may also find it informative as it is a compilation of our previous communications.To clarify the email you received earlier containing the media statement: The statement is only meant to provide assistance should you need it. THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM COTT.Finally, you will see that we put a short statement on our website indicating that we are experiencing technical difficulties.I am sorry this is taking so long and thank you for your understanding.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesThursday – January 12, 2023 – 12:48 PMDear Valued Customer,As discussed in yesterday’s update, we have prepared a statement that you may want to use if you are contacted for a statement by the local media. That statement is listed below:“On December 26, 2022, Cott Systems, Inc. (“Cott”), our land records management (case management) provider, began experiencing technical difficulties which were determined to be the result of a cyber incident. We have been assured that all efforts are being made to confirm our data is secure prior to resuming services. With the assistance of third-party cyber forensic specialists, efforts to resume operations will continue 24/7 until ________ County/Parish/Town is fully functional. Cott Systems understands that this is a critical situation and has assured us that the ongoing efforts are necessary to protect our data to the fullest extent possible. We will provide further updates as they are available. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.”Thank you,Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesWednesday – January 11, 2023 – 5:17 PMDear Valued Customer,We did receive our large order from Dell. It has been installed and is integrating into our infrastructure. This finally gives us the room we need to copy all files, repair and reconnect virtual machines, and then test to make sure all functionality has been completely restored. Fortunately, I can confirm that our storage area network (SAN) is in good shape. The plan for Thursday is more of the same: integrating additional space, copying what we have, working to restore full functionality while analyzing and validating every step of the way. Every minute counts and 24 x 7 will remain in force until your offices are up and running. We ARE making progress. We will be contacting state agencies with whom you may connect to share an official message of our situation. You will receive a copy.We will also provide you with a statement you may want to use if you are contacted for a statement by local media.Finally, you will see a short statement about the incident on our website.I am sorry this is taking so long and thank you for your understanding. Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesTuesday – January 10, 2023 – 5:03 PMDear Valued Customer,At the end of the day today, we received additional hardware resources to assist in the validation of servers and data. Over the coming days we expect additional infrastructure resources which will accelerate our efforts toward getting you working as quickly as possible.Internally, working with our cyber recovery team, we have implemented an additional endpoint detection and response solution which protects all of our hosted and HQ infrastructure. This solution aided in the containment and removal of suspicious files and malware resulting from this cyber-attack. The endpoint detection actively scans and monitors our entire infrastructure. This will remain in force indefinitely.Externally, we have recommended that all customers change the access password given to Cott. In addition to creating new ones, implementing a multi-factor authentication password, and only enabling the access for Cott staff when you need assistance, are ways to protect your network.These are some of the steps that allow us to work together and to be as secure as we can in our partnership.As I mentioned yesterday, the work this week will consist of: integrating additional space, copying what we have, working to restore full functionality while analyzing and validating every step of the way. Being diligent requires patience which I have personally run out of! I am sure you have too. I can only hope to bring you better news with each passing day. Thank you for your understanding. I will keep you updated throughout the week. Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesMonday – January 9, 2023 – 5:17 PMDear Valued Customer,Last night and today our team of specialists have continued to carefully bring our systems out of “protection mode.” I support our very conservative approach of copying all data and images prior to completing their examination and validation. While this approach requires space and time, it is the safest way to operate.As I have mentioned previously, we are working with cyber specialists every step of the way and are taking no risks with your data. The team is working in shifts, 24 x 7, to bring your offices back on-line as soon as possible. Nothing is more important.The work this week will consist of: integrating additional space, copying what we have, working to restore full functionality while analyzing and validating all slices of data.Regardless of our conservative approach, we recognize the critical situation we are all in and work with the utmost sense of urgency. Thank you for your understanding. I will keep you updated throughout the week.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesSunday – January 8, 2023 – 5:24 PMDear Valued Customer,Our IT team and technical cyber specialists worked over the weekend to try to bring our systems back to full functionality. However, recovering from the cyber-attack is still dominating our systems. The cyber recovery phase requires several steps. To complete those steps, we continue to need much more space than we normally use for operations.With the worldwide hardware shortage, even emergency orders are taking too long. Over the weekend we had: one promised order never appeared, one order was found to be not compatible (though the dealer had insisted it would be), one small order finally arrived today that has allowed us to begin to work on some of the necessary basic functions. On Tuesday, January 10, we expect a substantial shipment to arrive. Once it arrives, we estimate that we will need 24-48 hours to work with our technical experts to bring the system up then verify and validate all data.I am disappointed that this process is so lengthy. Last week, we hurried to give all customers the option of working again. I was very encouraged! However, the combination of everyone going on-line at once, along with our cyber recovery steps continuing to run, overloaded our system and it went into “protection mode.” We cannot let that happen again.As we become fully functional, we will methodically bring customers back on line. Unfortunately, we must take this day-by-day and the timeline cannot be established yet tonight. We will continue to inform you as soon as we know more so that you may plan your week. I wanted to be able to provide you with better news tonight. I am so sorry we are all dealing with this terrible situation. Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesFriday – January 6, 2023 – 8:44 PMDear Valued Customer,We have been working to restore all our services so that your offices, and our operation, can be back on-line Monday, January 9th. Our teams and consultants are reporting in to me frequently with status updates.Our full team will continue to work over the weekend, and I will be back in touch on Sunday to let you know their status and the “forecast” for Monday. I would love to tell you Sunday that all systems are ready to go! That is absolutely our goal.Thank you for your understanding as we work through this unprecedented situation.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Important Customer NoticeThursday – January 5, 2023 – 12:06 PMTo all customers with Hosted services,Cott’s infrastructure at the hosted center has gone into “protective mode” to preserve data. We have reached storage capacity. This unplanned use of storage space is a result of our ongoing forensic procedures and investigation. On-line hosted customer operations are on hold until the additional storage we have already ordered arrives and is installed. It is expected yet this week. THIS OUTAGE IS NOT CAUSED DIRECTLY BY THE CYBER ATTACK. It is an automatic data protection program that activates once our servers begin to reach capacity.Unfortunately, it appears that we will be “locked down” in this protective mode tomorrow as well while we obtain and install our additional storage. You will be updated again as soon as this status has changed.While I am glad the data protection program exists, I am disappointed and sorry to postpone your efforts to get back to business. Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Hosted Services IssuesThursday – January 5, 2023 – 7:47 AMHello Valued Customer,This morning you may be having issues where you are not able to log into your hosted applications. We are aware of this issue and are working to quickly resolve this. At this time we do not have an ETA on when this issue will be resolved. As soon as we have additional information we will send another notification. We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing your office and hope to have this situation rectified soon. Should you have any questions please email support@cottsystems.com or call us at 1-800-588-2688.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesWednesday – January 4, 2023 – 5:18 PMDear Valued Customer,We hope that many of our Hosted customers were able to work today. I know that there is catch-up and clean-up still to be done, but we are headed in the right direction. One area that I do want to mention is Cott Log-In credentials to your office. These are credentials that have been given to Cott Systems to be able to access your system and provide support services. We ask that you have your IT reset these credentials as soon as possible in order to ensure a clean start.As you know, our investigation and response to this incident are ongoing. We will continue to provide regular updates to you as relevant information becomes available. Below are some of the frequently asked questions and responses to help you understand the incident, what you can do, and our response.I am a customer of Cott Systems. What should I do in response to this incident? Are you investigating our network?We are actively investigating the suspicious activity on the systems located in Cott Systems headquarters and in our data center. We are not actively investigating our customers’ networks. To that end, should you deem it appropriate, you may wish to contact your insurance carrier (if applicable) to discuss the potential investigation and assessment of your own organization’s systems. We also ask that you reset any credentials that have been issued to Cott Systems by your organization.When will full operations be restored? Our team is working around the clock to restore operations and services. We have also brought in third-party forensic and remediation specialists to assist our team. Although we do not currently have an exact timeframe for full restoration, we have made substantial progress in restoring our systems and any hosted customers should be working at this time. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.How do you suspect it got into your system? Has the source been identified? We are working to confirm the entry vector, if possible, as part of our active, comprehensive investigation into the nature and scope of the event.What policies or contingencies were in place to deal with something like this? The confidentiality, privacy, and security of information in our care is among our highest priorities. We have procedures in place to address events such as this, and we are following these established protocols.What is the timeline of when you will have your investigation done? Our ongoing investigation is active and being performed diligently so that we can understand the nature and scope of the event as quickly as possible. Who are you working with to conduct the investigation? We are working with forensic and remediation specialists to address this incident as quickly as possible. We have also notified law enforcement of this incident.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Resuming Work in Cott ApplicationsWednesday – January 4, 2023 – 12:56 AMDear Valued Customer,As discussed in an earlier communication, access to Resolution3, Verdict Criminal and Verdict Civil has been restored. We have created some helpful hints and things to remember when re-entering your data from the time of the outage. Before you get started, please review the applicable information at the following links to PDF file downloads:Resuming Work in Resolution3Resuming Work in Verdict CriminalResuming Work in Verdict CivilPlease do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.Thank you,Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesTuesday – January 3, 2023 – 5:05 PMDear Valued Customer,We have completed the validation of: Resolution3, eSearch, RecordRoom, RECORDhub, both of our case management applications, Criminal and Civil, plus eRecording. These applications will be available for you to use tomorrow, January 4th. We are still validating and testing additional Cott applications including integrations with other systems, such as eFiling.Eighty-seven percent of all images have been validated and are available to search. The remaining 13% will be validated as quickly as possible. If a search receives a message that says “Image not available”, please note that the image has not yet been validated.While our back-up system is functioning, it is not yet collecting and copying new information. Once you begin recording tomorrow, your system copy will be the only copy available until the back-up copying procedures are working as normal. All of the new data you will be inputting starting tomorrow will be backed-up once we have it running properly again.You will be receiving additional instructions tonight to help you get started tomorrow. Thank you for working through this challenging situation with us!Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesMonday – January 2, 2023 – 4:42 PMDear Valued Customer,During the past 24 hours, we have confirmed that all databases are complete and in good order. We continue to run maintenance checks to verify all back-up systems are working as intended. As of this moment, we have 93% of the infrastructure fixed and running and we are working with Citrix to check connectivity.I was hopeful that our applications would be back online for you Tuesday. I am sorry but that will not yet be possible. We are still testing basic functionality and will move to more detailed testing later this evening to make sure the programs are working as intended.I am so encouraged that no data was lost or damaged. Our teams are working as fast as possible to verify the applications are working properly. While I still do not have an absolute timeline, I am hoping Wednesday they will have made enough progress to put you back in business.Please accept my apologies and appreciation for your understanding.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesSunday – January 1, 2023 – 5:02 PMDear Valued Customer,I am thankful it is a new year and we will soon be able to put the Christmas cyber invasion behind us! I know you are too. Today as we continue to systematically work through the forensic and remediation steps with our cyber security team, our findings and results are very positive. The teams have worked through validating more than 1/2 of our systems. Those are all functioning normally. In addition, we are systematically validating hundreds of millions of images.As our IT team works through the process, we are learning how long the validation phase is taking and how varied it can be depending on what is found. I am hopeful that we will be able to restore at least partial functionality to your office very soon.Tomorrow we will be busy testing to make sure our validated systems are “talking” to each other and functioning properly. In tomorrow’s communication, we will let you know what, if any, software will be available on Tuesday.I wish you a year of good health and good fortune in 2023.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesSaturday – December 31, 2022 – 4:55 PMDear Valued Customer,Today we continue to systematically work through the forensic and remediation steps with our experienced cyber security team. They are working hand-in-hand with Cott IT staff to examine and validate data and systems. We have prioritized our offsite data center, and at this point, there is no evidence that customer data was taken from our hosted environment. Many of you have inquired whether your backups still exist. At this time, we see that they are all there and we are carefully working to examine them.With our cyber security team, we are progressing through the validation of all systems and data held at Cott and our offsite data center. This activity will continue through the weekend. Each day we come closer to restoring your operation. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. We are all aware of how valuable this information is: it must be complete; it must be accurate. Validation will take time, and I will keep you updated.I sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding while we proceed as fast as we can.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesSaturday – December 30, 2022 – 4:48 PMDear Valued Customer,We continue working around the clock with third-party forensic and remediation specialists to help us restore operations as quickly as possible. As of today, I can confirm that we are making good progress and I am encouraged. As previously mentioned, there are many people and steps involved. The steps we have completed with our specialists so far are going well and proving effective. Everyone involved will continue working through the holiday weekend. You will also continue to receive updates each day. Please be assured that as soon as I am able to confirm a timeline for resolution, I will do so. Please remember that we are unable to send or receive emails so please call Customer Support if you wish to reach us.I am truly so sorry for what has happened. I deeply appreciate your patience and understanding while we work through this critical situation.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesThursday – December 29, 2022 – 4:29 PMDear Valued Customer,We continue working around the clock with third-party forensic and remediation specialists to help us restore operations as quickly as possible. While we are unable to provide a definite timeline for resolution, we are definitely making progress.Please note that we continue to be unable to send or receive emails. If you have sent an email to us this week, we have not received it. Please call Customer Support if you wish to reach us.Our sincere apologies and we will continue to send daily updates.Deborah Ball, CEOCott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072

Update on Cott Hosted ServicesWednesday – December 28, 2022 – 5:00 PMTo all valued Cott customers,As you know, on Monday, December 26, Cott Systems identified some unusual activity on our servers. In an abundance of caution, we disconnected all of our servers to isolate that activity within our environment. We then immediately engaged cyber specialists to investigate the event and they began a forensic analysis. It has been determined that Cott Systems is the victim of an organized cyber-attack.We have notified the FBI. Both the FBI and Homeland Security have indicated that they are aware of, and have been investigating, this particular group of criminals who operate worldwide. We will be sharing information as we proceed.We are working 24 x 7 with the forensic specialists to review all affected systems. While this is being completed, they are also working with us to identify ways to securely rebuild processes and restore functionality.There are many steps involved in the recovery from this cyber-attack. At this time, we are not able to give you a date when we will be fully operational or when connectivity and all of your services will be restored. You will be kept informed by a daily update.Finally, we are working on methods for you to be able to continue to at least manually process transactions. These will be provided in additional communications once we work out the details.Cott Systems exists to serve you. We acknowledge that time is of the essence and this is an emergency situation. Please accept our sincere apologies for the impact that this cyber-attack is having on your office.Customer Support | Cott Systems
Cott Systems, Inc. | 2800 Corporate Exchange Dr., Ste.300 | Columbus, OH 43231
o) 800-588-2688 M-F 7am-6pm Eastern | f) 866-540-1072 | e) support@cottsystems.com

Cott Hosted Services OutageTuesday – December 27, 2022 – 11:15 AMOur online index provider, Cott Systems, has been experiencing a nation-wide service outage since Monday, December 26th. We have had no official communication from Cott and unfortunately there is no estimated time of service restoration. This page will be updated as we are updated by Cott Systems. You may click here to view a daily register. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.* this is not an official communication from Cott; the first official communication is above on 12/28/2022

DAILY REGISTER | December 22, 2022 – January 12, 2023

LAST UPDATED: 2023-01-13 16:25:42 The table below is best viewed from a computer. If you are viewing from a mobile device, rotate your phone to landscape mode for a better viewing experience.