Brazilian company JBS SA were targets for a large cyber attack this past weekend, the company announced Monday. In a statement by the company, they determined on Sunday that they were “the target of an organized cybersecurity attack, affecting some of the servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems.”
Being the leading processor of beef, pork and other prepared foods in the US, JBS took their precautionary measures and were forced to shut down all of their US beef plants after the attack. Even slaughter operations across Australia were forced to shut down as well.
Fortunately for the company, JBS CEO Andre Nogueira said in a late statement Tuesday that a “vast majority” of their plants will return back to operation on Wednesday. The company also stated that they’re currently not aware of any evidence that suggests “any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of the situation.”
This ransomware attack on JBS has been speculated to raise concerns about the security of food and food processing. On Tuesday there were slumps in multiple livestock futures, especially live cattle futures. Last month we saw the Colonial Pipeline, the largest oil pipeline system in the US, be victim to a cyber attack as well, causing gas shortages in various states across the country with people rushing to stock up on excess gas. Hopefully the cyber attack on JBS won’t cause as much panic.
