Undated (WBAP/KLIF) – A recent alert by the FBI warned that food and agriculture businesses could become a target of ransomware attacks during the industries busiest time of the year in order to inflict maximum damage.
The Food and Agriculture Sector is almost entirely under private ownership and is composed of an estimated 2.1 million farms, 935,000 restaurants, and more than 200,000 registered food manufacturing, processing, and storage facilities. This sector accounts for roughly one-fifth of the nation’s economic activity.
The warning says agriculture groups like co-ops are at such a great risk. The alert reads, “Cyber actors may perceive cooperatives as lucrative targets with a willingness to pay due to the time sensitive role they play in agricultural production.”
The alert further warned that a significant disruption of grain production could impact the entire food chain, since grain is not only consumed by humans but also used for animal feed.
Summary
“The FBI noted ransomware attacks during these seasonsagainst six grain cooperatives during the fall 2021 harvest and two attacks in early 2022 that could impact the planting season by disrupting the supply of seeds and fertilizer.
Cyber actors may perceive cooperatives as lucrative targets with a willingness to pay due to the timesensitive role they play in agricultural production.
Although ransomware attacks against the entire farm-to-table spectrum of the FA sector occur on a regular basis, the number of cyber ttacks against agricultural cooperatives during key seasons is notable.”
Read full warning here.
The WBAP/KLIF newsroom is awaiting comment from the Texas Agriculture Cooperative Commission.
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