Comment from Tenable on the Cyber attack on global meat processing company

JBS Foods, a global meat processing company reported to have been impacted by an organised cyberattack affecting some of the servers supporting its Australian and North American IT systems, shut down its Australian operations over the weekend. The White House confirmed in a press briefing on Tuesday, June 1 that this was a ransomware incident. The breach is the latest targeting a crucial supply chain and comes three weeks after the Colonial Pipeline attack.

Commenting on the incident, Dick Bussiere, Technical Director for APAC at Tenable says these attacks on critical infrastructure have society-wide implications and that organisations cannot afford to shut down entire operations every time a cyberattack occurs. Instead, OT security needs to be recognised as a core element to protect these infrastructure environments.

“The cyberattack on JBS Foods underscores the susceptibility of critical infrastructure to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, threats and potential outages. It also highlights how attractive these industries have become to cybercriminals as more IT and OT systems converge. If the recent attack on Colonial Pipeline has taught us anything, it’s that cyberattacks on critical infrastructure don’t only impact the organisation but have society-wide implications that cascade into the geographies and supply chains where the organisation operates. Organisations cannot afford to shut down entire operations every time a cyberattack occurs. Instead, OT cybersecurity needs to be recognised as a core ingredient to gain visibility, security and control over critical infrastructure environments.” – Dick Bussiere, Technical Director for APAC at Tenable