Security News > 2021 > June > Meat Producer JBS Says Expects Most Plants Working Wednesday
Brazil's JBS SA said late Tuesday that it had made "Significant progress" in dealing with the cyberattack and expected the "Vast majority" of its plants to be operating on Wednesday.
JBS is the second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the U.S. If it were to shut down for even one day, the U.S. would lose almost a quarter of its beef-processing capacity, or the equivalent of 20,000 beef cows, according to Trey Malone, an assistant professor of agriculture at Michigan State University.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it expects beef prices to climb 1% to 2% this year, poultry as much as 1.5% and pork between by from 2% and 3%. JBS didn't say which of its 84 U.S. facilities were closed Monday and Tuesday because of the attack.
JBS is Australia's largest meat and food processing company, with 47 facilities across the country including slaughterhouses, feedlots and meat processing sites.
Jean-Pierre said the White House "Is engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals." The FBI is investigating the incident, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is offering technical support to JBS. In addition, USDA has spoken to several major meat processors in the U.S. to alert them to the situation, and the White House is assessing any potential impact on the nation's meat supply.
Mark Jordan, who follows the meat industry as the executive director of Leap Market Analytics, said the disruption could be minimal assuming JBS recovers in the next few days.