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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is informing those in the food and agriculture sector that ransomware attacks may be more likely on agricultural cooperatives during critical planting and harvest seasons. These attacks would disrupt operations, causing financial loss and negatively impacting the food supply chain.
The FBI noted ransomware attacks during these seasons against six grain cooperatives during the fall 2021 harvest and two attacks in early 2022 that could impact the planting season by disrupting the supply of seeds and fertilizer.
Cooperatives may be seen as lucrative targets by hackers because of a perceived willingness to pay the ransom during these crucial production seasons.
Additional Resources
For additional resources related to the prevention and mitigation of ransomware, go to Stopransomware.gov, a U.S. government webpage providing ransomware resources and alerts.
CISA’s Ransomware Readiness Assessment (RRA) is a no-cost self-assessment to help organizations better assess how well they are equipped to defend and recover from a ransomware incident.
Reporting Attacks
The FBI recommends reporting suspicious or criminal activity to your local FBI field office. Field office contacts can be found here: www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices.
When available, each report should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people, and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.
