The largest meat processing company in the world has been targeted by a sophisticated cyber attack. The Bloomberg agency reports. JBS’s computer networks were breached, resulting in the temporary closure of some businesses in Australia, Canada and the United States, affecting thousands of workers.
The company, which has more than 150 factories in 15 countries, believes the ransomware attack originated from a criminal group likely based in Russia. The stop thus stopped production in the plants from which about a third of American meat supplies derive. The White House said the FBI is investigating the attack.
“JBS notified the White House that the ransom note came from a criminal organization likely based in Russia,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “The White House is engaging directly with the Russian government on this issue and conveying the message that responsible states are not hosting ransomware criminals,” he added.
The company expects a large portion of its American plants to be operational again today. “Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing resources to combat this threat,” said the head of the US branch targeted by the hackers, Andre Nogueira, in a statement.
In the United States, JBS, founded in Brazil in 1953 as a slaughterhouse by breeder José Batista Sobrinho, processes nearly a quarter of the country’s beef and a fifth of its pork. Its customers include supermarkets and McDonald’s fast food outlets.
Last month, the fuel supply in the southeastern United States was paralyzed for several days after a ransomware attack targeted the Colonial Pipeline. Investigators said the attack was also linked to a group with ties to Russia. And the Colonial Pipeline confirmed that it paid a $ 4.4 million ransom to the gang of cybercriminals responsible.