The world’s largest meat producer, JBS, has been forced to shut down many of its slaughterhouses, including in the United States, due to a cyberattack on the company’s computer networks on Sunday, raising concerns about food security.
The Brazilian meat giant’s five biggest beef plants in the U.S., which handle over 20,000 cattle every day, have stopped meat processing, according to company Facebook posts, after an attack on its servers on Sunday. The company is the biggest producer of beef in the country, making up almost 25% of all beef capacity and almost one-fifth of pork being sold in the U.S., fueling concerns about a shortage of meat products and prices rising.
The White House said Tuesday that JBS had said that a Russian criminal organization was likely responsible for the attack on the company.
“The White House is engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The White House also said it was in close touch with the Department of Agriculture to offer assistance and ensure there aren’t any significant food shortage issues from the attack.
The U.S. is on high alert regarding cyberattacks after a hacking group, known to be from Eastern Europe, shut down one of the country’s critical sources of energy, the Colonial Pipeline, which significantly slowed gas delivery on the East Coast earlier this month.
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“If the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack didn’t impact enough consumers to spur response by the international community, the JBS meat supplier incident likely will,” said Meg King, a tech scholar at the Wilson Center, a think tank focused on global issues.
“Now is the time for a global agreement to break the business model of ransomware. This will keep happening — at great cost to life and treasure — if we don’t identify and stop the biggest actors, gain better early warning, and help companies improve their cybersecurity,” she added.
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JBS closed its meat processing facilities in Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, and Utah, while also canceling workers shifts at plants in Iowa and Colorado, Bloomberg reported.
