Beef

The world’s biggest meat supplier shut plants after a major cyber attack — here's what might help

Thursday, June 3, 2021 by Snacks

Vegans aren't sweating it... JBS, aka: Earth's largest meat producer, was forced to shut down all of its US beef plants after a cyberattack over the weekend. The ransomware attack halted output at facilities that supply nearly a quarter of America's meat — and some in Australia and Canada. Ransomware = hijacking computer systems and demanding payment for the release of the "hostage." The FBI is blaming a Russia-based hacking group called REvil (classic). JBS' CEO said that most plants would be operating by Wednesday (aka: yesterday).

Niet good... JBS is one of four meat giants that control more than 80% of US beef processing, so this attack is raising national food security alarms. Cyber attacks have been increasingly targeting critical infrastructure. Think: pipelines, power grids, and food production facilities.

  • Since May 2020, there have been 40+ publicly reported ransomware attacks against food companies.
  • Last month: Colonial, the US' largest fuel pipeline, was hit with a crippling ransomware attack. That caused a run on the pumps, since Colonial carries nearly half of the East Coast's gas. Colonial paid $4.4B worth of Bitcoin to reclaim its systems.
  • Last year: ~$350M worth of cryptocurrency payments went to ransomware attacks, up 3X from 2019. "Ransomware-as-a-Service" is a business now. Victims don’t want to lose their data, so they pay up.
THE TAKEAWAY

This corporate problem may require a government solution... Hackers are seeking payment in Bitcoin, which is hard to trace — and might require sophisticated government intelligence. Plus, each time a company pays a ransom, it encourages more attacks. Experts believe Russia is funding the "ransomware plague." Companies can't pressure Russia to stop — but the government can. President Biden will have plenty to discuss when he meets with Russian president Putin later this month.

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