With the region’s biggest show on cybersecurity, GISEC 2021, being held in Dubai right now, the companies would have gotten a sense of the threat they face when another crippling ransomware attack targeted a large US-based corporation in less than a month.
After the experiences of Colonial Pipeline last month, with the company reportedly paying a ransom of $4.4 million to the hackers, it was the turn of JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier, to fall prey to cybercriminals. Its computer networks were hacked, causing operations in Australia, Canada and the US to shut down temporarily.
Founded in 1953 in Brazil, JBS (named after founder José Batista Sobrinho) has more than 150 plants in 15 countries and nearly 150,000 employees worldwide. In the US, JBS processes nearly one quarter of the country’s beef.
Late on Tuesday, JBS USA announced significant progress in resolving the cyberattack and said its operations in Mexico and the UK were not impacted.
“We recognise our responsibility to our team members, producers and consumers to resume operations as soon as possible,” said Andre Nogueira, JBS USA CEO. “Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat.
“We have cybersecurity plans in place to address these types of issues and we are successfully executing those plans. Given the progress our IT professionals and plant teams have made in the last 24 hours, the vast majority of our meat and prepared foods plants will be operational tomorrow (Wednesday).”
JBS has received strong support from the US, Australian and Canadian governments.
“I want to personally thank the White House, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Australian and Canadian governments for their assistance over the last two days,” Nogueira added.
The company believes the ransomware attack originated from a criminal group likely based in Russia, the White House said. The FBI is investigating the attack.
“JBS notified (the White House) that the ransom demand came from a criminal organisation likely based in Russia,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.
“The White House is engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbour ransomware criminals.”
The attack, if not contained, could lead to shortages of meat or raise prices for consumers.
Last month, fuel delivery in the south east of the US was hampered for several days after the attack on Colonial Pipeline. Investigators say that attack was also linked to a group with ties to Russia.
On Monday, JBS said it had suspended all affected IT systems as soon as the attack was detected, and that its backup servers were not hacked.
According to the trade group Beef Central, “supermarkets and other large end-users like the McDonald’s burger patty supply network will be some of the most immediately impacted customers, due to their need for consistent supply”.
JBS’s five biggest beef plants are in the US.
