JBS, a meat sales company received a virtual threat at the end of May that caused the suspension of its operations.
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June
10, 2021
2 min read
On Wednesday, June 9, JBS, a meat sales company, confirmed that it paid 11 million dollars to hackers, after being victims of a cyber attack. They made this decision because, even if it was difficult, they had to take care of their employees and customers.
Andrés Nogueira, the CEO of the company, mentioned in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the plants that were temporarily suspended process 1/5 of the meat that is distributed by the United States. The cyberattack also affected the activities of its plants in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The FBI tracked down the attack on the cyber group known as REvel, originally from Russia or Eastern Europe, although the consequences have not yet been imposed on those responsible. Hackers were unable to access central systems, as they shut down all their servers as soon as the threat arrived. The strategy allowed them to be kept out of their databases and that they were not compromised.
On Thursday they reported that all their facilities are operating normally and will be dedicated to catching up with the production that was lost in recent weeks. The White House has warned corporate leaders to increase the security measures they have on their servers. Anne Neuberger, a cybersecurity adviser within the National Security Council, mentioned in a letter that there has been a significant increase in the frequency and severity of cyber attacks.
For his part, Joe Biden, president of the United States, commented that the possibility of imposing the consequences on the Russian government is being considered. It is hoped that it will be an issue that they can discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to reach an agreement on what action to take.