Scott Wants To Know Who Is Responsible For JBS Attack

The FBI is investigating, and the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee wants to know if Russia was behind the recent ransomware attack on JBS USA. Chairman David Scott said the “cowardly hacking” of critical U.S. “food, energy, and financial systems must be stopped,” and Russia must be held “accountable” if it’s somehow involved. While the House Ag Committee Chairman has yet to be interviewed about his comments, Representative Scott did issue a statement that said he is “working closely” with USDA and President Biden to “get to the bottom” of the JBS hack.

American Farm Bureau Economist Veronica Nigh says this problem isn’t going away anytime soon.

“You’ve already mentioned the petroleum pipeline. This is an issue that’s affecting not just Ag, but the economy at large, as we become more technology-dependent.”

Colonial Pipeline paid more than $4 million in ransom to a Russian-linked cyber-extortion group to restore gasoline supplies on the East Coast while it’s unclear if JBS paid a ransom to its attacker. Nigh said this points out how vulnerable the U.S. food supply was during the early part of the pandemic, and still is.

“When we looked at what was going on last spring, and we had plants going down for multiple weeks, the flexibility and the ability to respond is certainly dictated by how long the event lasts.”

A USDA estimate showed about a 20% decline in cattle slaughter when JBS beef plants went down.

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