The American Farm Bureau Federation says it?s uncertain what kind of impact this week?s cyberattack on JBS will have on the beef supply chain.
JBS ? one of the world?s largest meatpackers ? announced on Sunday that some of the servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems were targeted. Scott Bennett is director of congressional relations with the American Farm Bureau.
?The company took immediate action, suspending all of the affected systems, notifying authorities, and activating the company’s global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation,? said Bennett. ?The company’s backup servers were not affected, and it is actively working with an incident-response firm to restore its systems, as soon as possible.?
Bennett expects disruptions in the meatpacking industry.
?The company is not aware of any evidence at this time that any customer, supplier, or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of this situation,? said Bennett. ?The company does state that a resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers.?
Bennett adds the supply of beef products could be impacted both domestically and internationally.
?It is concerning whenever we see disruptions in our food supply chain,? said Bennett. ?Certainly, the COVID 19 pandemic showed us that last year. We hope the JBS can get up and running as soon as possible. This event has certainly shined a light on how vulnerable even agriculture can be to cybersecurity threats.?
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley tweeted on Tuesday that he is closely monitoring the JBS cyberattack and plans to get updates from JBS officials on the issue. Grassley added that food security is a national security issue.
Im closely monitoring the JBS cyber attack & will get update from JBS/offer help from fed govt JBS processes pork & beef & chicken and needs to normalize operations as soon as possible for farmers + consumers
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 1, 2021
Just spoke w CEO of JBS abt this wkends cyberattack which is direct attack on those that work hard 2provide food for our families / US must find these criminals & hold them accountable Food security = national security I told JBS they need to keep me updated on impact on Iowa too
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 1, 2021