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“2021 was the year that ransomware went mainstream, and it was the attack on Colonial Pipeline which was the catalyst. Consumers sit up and take notice when supplies of everyday essentials such as gas, electric and food are threatened. For obvious reason the fallout from these incidents can be massive, so it’s no surprise that cybercriminal gangs will continue to focus on our food supply chain.

Last year we saw food supply disruption following attacks on JBS Foods, one of the largest meat processing firms, multi-billion dollar dairy foods company Schreiber, Minnesota-based farm supply and grain marketing cooperative Crystal Valley, and Iowa-based farm service provider NEW Cooperative to name a few.

Unfortunately, ransomware attacks are increasing at an unparalleled rate and many organizations are still depending on antiquated technologies to defend against them, so the chances of a debilitating attack targeting our food supply is higher than ever before.

We know that the common thread associated with all ransomware attacks is data exfiltration, data is after all the crown jewels of any organisation. If organisations continue to focus on defensive cybersecurity approaches, attackers will continue to focus on and profit from extortion. Only by preventing the unauthorised exfiltration of data can organisations really win the war on ransomware.”