Ransomware provides JBS with a successful food supply and underscores the huge threat

Disruptive power of ransomware was already displayed last month, Colonial Pipeline The attack was interrupted by the distribution of fuel from a crucial east coast pipeline in the United States. Now, another attack over the weekend threatens the food supply chain, and has once again stressed that rescue software is a national and international security issue.

JBS SA is the largest meat processing company in the world, headquartered in Brazil and has more than 250,000 employees all over the world. In one statement on Monday, its U.S. subsidiary, JBS USA, said it was “the target of an organized cybersecurity attack that affected some servers that support its IT systems in North America and Australia.” The company added that backups of its system are complete. In response to the attack, JBS USA took offline systems offline, reported law enforcement and began repair work with a company to respond to outside incidents. JBS facilities in Australia, the US and Canada have been disrupted since the attack was detected on Sunday.

The JBS incident is spreading through the meat industry and as a result some plants have to be closed, workers sent home and animals sent to farmers after being transported for slaughter. In Australia, the situation is particularly noticeable impact on local supply chains, even officials said, there may be branches where JBS can quickly recover operations.

“JBS is working closely with law enforcement agencies here and abroad to re-launch and hold accountable those responsible,” said David Littleproud, Australia’s Minister of Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management. he tweeted on Tuesday.

JBS itself has not yet publicly described the incident as a rescue attack, but White House Undersecretary of Press Karine Jean-Pierre told Air Force One briefing on Tuesday the company warned the Biden Administration of a ransomware attack on Sunday. Same he added that it was done “probably by a criminal organization based in Russia”.

“The White House is in direct contact with the Russian government on this issue and that the responsible state does not protect the criminals from the rescue,” says Jean-Pierre. they told reporters.

They now have multiple U.S. presidential administrations engraved how to make a significant deterrent against foreign hacking. Ransomware attacks are generally financially motivated by criminal hackers and do not explicitly support state-sponsored agents. When foreign countries do not prosecute crimes or cooperate with international investigations, they land in a gray geopolitical area.

“Ransomware is a risk from national security to providing food security and health; it should be taken as one of the most serious security issues,” says Brett Callow, an analyst at the company’s anti-virus threat company Emsisoft. and tracked ransomware for years. “If governments don’t quickly invent and implement strategies to deal with ransomware effectively, the problems will get worse.”

Ransomware has been a well-known and active threat to critical infrastructure, in particular health, a few years ago, and the situation significantly increased The Covid-19 pandemic was raging. They are among the recent attempts by the U.S. government to address the issue joining a public-private working group in December. The working group released several recommendations in late April.

Investigators and those responsible for the incident stress, however, that there is a serious need for tangible action. But the most effective step would be to stop all payments to ransomware agents so that they don’t have an incentive to continue. difficult to put into practice.

“It’s about paying, it’s the second stop that stops being profitable,” says former NSA hacker Jake Williams and founder of security company Rendition Infosec. “You can’t outlaw payments, which will put business operators in a bad position. Law enforcement needs to study tools like cryptocurrency exchanges and mixers aggressively, so hackers can’t cover their tracks and turn rescue payments into currency bonds.”