JBS blames Russian criminals for shutting down meat production Agriculture News

The Brazilian JBS SA has told the US government that the ransomware attack on the company that disrupted meat production in North America and Australia stemmed from a criminal organization likely located in Russia, the White House said.

JBS, the world’s largest meat packer, said Tuesday night it had made “great strides in resolving the cyberattack.” The company’s “vast majority” of the company’s meat, pork, poultry and prepared food plants will be operational on Wednesday, according to a note, easing concerns about rising food prices.

After the cyberattack last month, a group linked to Russia continued on the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S., to suspend fuel for several days in the southeastern U.S..

According to union officials, JBS on Tuesday stopped killing cattle at all U.S. plants. On Monday, the attack shut down Australian operations.

“Our systems are online again and we are not saving any resources to deal with this threat,” said Andre Nogueira, CEO of JBS USA.

Headquartered in North American operations in Greeley, Colorado, JBS controls about 20% of its ability to kill U.S. cattle and pigs.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. has contacted the Russian government and is investigating the FBI.

“The White House is in direct contact with the Russian government on this issue and the responsible state is not protecting the criminals from the rescue,” Jean-Pierre said.

Price increase

JBS sells cows and pigs under the Swift brand, and vendors like Costco Wholesale Corp. carry pork loins and sirloins. JBS also owns most of Pilgrim’s Pride Co chicken processors, which sell organic chicken under the Just Bare brand.

The disruption of JBS factories would threaten to further raise meat prices for American consumers during the summer grill season and suspend meat exports in strong demand from China.

“The supply chains, logistics and transportation that drive our society are particularly vulnerable to ransomware, where attacks by chokepoints can have disproportionate effects and encourage urgent payments,” threat researcher John Hultquist told FireEye security company.

The disruption quickly had an impact on Tuesday, industry analysts said. U.S. meat collectors killed 22% fewer cows than a week earlier and 18% fewer than a year earlier, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. There was also no pork processing.

The USDA said the prices of selected cuts and cuts of beef sent to wholesale buyers in large boxes jumped by more than 1 percent.

According to a document, the USDA contacted major meat processors to keep the supply moving and to encourage the slaughter of additional livestock. The agency also called on meat collectors to make IT and supply chain infrastructure more sustainable.

A White House official said the USDA and the federal Department of Homeland Security agency are closely monitoring meat and poultry supplies. The agency is also working with agricultural processors to prevent price manipulation as a result of the cyberattack, the official said.

Canceled rounds

JBS said it had suspended all the affected systems, which was not affected by the reported authorities and backup servers. A representative from Sao Paulo said he had no influence on Brazilian operations.

The company said Sunday’s cyberattack affected its IT systems in North America and Australia and that “the resolution of the incident will take time, which could delay some transactions with customers and suppliers.”

U.S. beef and pork prices are already rising, as China increases imports as animal feed costs rise and slaughterhouses run out of labor. Analysts say more impact on consumers will depend on how long JBS plants remain closed.

Cactus (Texas) JBS Beef said on Facebook on Wednesday that there would be no manufacturing, killing or rendering production in a round. Another shift will have regular start times for employees.

An early change was also canceled on Wednesday after a cyberattack at JBS ’cow factory in Greeley, but later the shift was expected to begin normally, representatives of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7 organization said in an email.

A pig plant in Ottumwa, Iowa, will not have “harvest production” in the first or second rounds on Wednesday, according to a Facebook message that the company “continues to work on our computer issues”. According to the publication, other aspects of the plant are in operation.

JBS Canada said in a Facebook post that it took a turn at the cow factory in Brooks, Alberta on Tuesday, after the same day and Monday shifts were canceled.

The U.S. Livestock Association, a meat industry group, said on Twitter that JBS reported that it was redirecting carriers of livestock that had arrived at plants that were ready for slaughter.

Last year, cattle and pigs were backed up on U.S. farms and some animals were euthanized among workers when they shut down meat plants during outbreaks of coronaviruses.

Marc Perrone, president of UFCW International, whose union represents more than 25,000 JBS meat-packing workers, has called on the company to “ensure that all meat-packing workers receive a guaranteed salary while these plant closures continue.”

In recent years, ransomware has become a deep national security issue. Some gangs, many of them Russian speakers, develop software that encrypts the files and then demand payment for the cryptocurrency to get the keys that the owners can decrypt and use again.