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A criminal organization that is probably based in Russia was the source of a ransomware attack that disrupted the killing of animals at JBS, the White House said after the world’s largest meat processor informed it, as reduced operations threatened to limit beef supply and raise prices.
JBS, based in São Paulo, has suffered a cyber attack on its US and Australian systems over the past two days that has halted the work of thousands of employees.
The company has laid off up to 7,000 workers at Australian slaughterhouses that rely heavily on casual staff, while shifts of at least 3,000 workers across Canada and the United States have been canceled.
On Tuesday afternoon, JBS said it had made progress in resolving the problem and that most of its plants would be operational soon. A union representative said, however, that at least one Wednesday shift at the company’s plant in Greeley, Colorado, had been canceled.
The incident, first discovered on Sunday, is the latest in a chain of cyber attacks about companies with important roles in the economy, including ransomware software that last month halted flows to the Colonial pipeline, a vital fuel artery for the populous east coast of the United States.
While drivers worried about gas shortages during the colonial shutdown, the agricultural business raised concerns about JBS. “Because JBS controls about 20% of meat processing in the U.S., security attacks like this can have massive implications for domestic food supply,” the U.S. National Farmers Union said. on Twitter.
The White House was “directly liaising with the Russian government on this issue and sending the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
Jean-Pierre added that the FBI was investigating the attack and that U.S. President Joe Biden had directed the administration to look for ways to mitigate supply disruptions.
JBS said it had taken immediate action when it determined it was the target of an organized cyberattack, including the suspension of the affected systems and notifying authorities. The attack affected some servers that supported their Australian and American information technology systems, the group said.
“At this time, the company is not aware of any evidence that the data of customers, suppliers or employees have been compromised or misused as a result of the situation. The resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers, ”said JBS.
In the United States, the company’s beef plant in Cactus, Texas, was closed on Tuesday, the facility announced on Facebook. According to a union representative, shifts at the beef plant in Greeley, the company’s largest slaughterhouse in the U.S., were also canceled.
The closures caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to delay its reports on livestock and meat prices, alleging “packaging problems.”
JBS canceled shifts at a beef plant in Brooks, Alberta, and has not indicated when it will be able to resume processing beef, pork and sheep at its 47 facilities in Australia, according to people familiar with the theme.
Matt Journeaux, an official in the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union, said JBS staff arrived at work on Monday morning and were informed that they had been laid off due to the attack.
“This will affect food production. It depends on the duration of the stop. JBS exports about 60% of what it processes so some foreign customers can be lightweight, ”he said.
Cattle futures declined as expectations of herds were made out of slaughterhouses, with the benchmark contract in Chicago falling nearly 4% at some point on Tuesday.
The meat processing industry relies on computer and software systems for tracking and grading animals, as well as maintaining records to comply with regulatory standards.
Dalmo Veras, executive director of 313X, a Brazilian cyber security group, said: “These types of attacks are more normal than we think and the worst are those we don’t even know about.”
Additional reports from Emiko Terazono in London
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