Ag is 'definitely a target' for cyber attacks
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
In recent years, the number of cyberattacks targeting agricultural companies has surged. The FBI has reported eight attacks since January 1st 2021 on grain cooperatives alone. Ever Ag’s Mike Moore sees ag retail as vulnerable target to these attacks.
Moore… “Those attacks, you know, definitely kind of ramped up and and got more catastrophic, right? Rather than affecting one, we're seeing where entire companies were shut down with these attacks. So I would say really it feels like it's been a ramp over the last five years. You hear isolated events and then that started growing and continuing to grow, and now the snowball's fairly large now.”
Moore says these threats have intensified and not enough companies in the industry have taken the necessary actions to protect themselves.
Moore… “We now know that ag is definitely a target, and not only is it a target, I would say it's an easy target because we're underspending on technology in this ag industry, at the ag retail level. So we become an easy target for these threat actors, and it's a numbers game. If I can throw my tools at 10 places and five of them stick, that's pretty good odds. But yes, most definitely: ag is a target. I would say these threat actors, they don't have morals. You can't trust them. . Even if they say they're not gonna attack an industry, why would we believe them?”
Moore recommends that farms and agribusiness look into cyber insurance as a first step toward protecting themselves.
