Security News > 2022 > April > FBI warns of ransomware attacks targeting US agriculture sector

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation warned Food and Agriculture sector organizations today of an increased risk that ransomware gangs "May be more likely" to attack them during the harvest and planting seasons.
While ransomware groups regularly target the US agriculture sector, the FBI noted that the number of attacks against such entities during such critical seasons stands out.
Ransomware attacks targeting agricultural cooperatives during key seasons could lead to operation disruptions, financial loss, and a negative impact on the US and global food supply chain.
"Ransomware attacks during these seasons against six grain cooperatives during the fall 2021 harvest and two attacks in early 2022 that could impact the planting season by disrupting the supply of seeds and fertilizer," the FBI said [PDF].
In a February joint advisory, the FBI, CISA, and the NSA also highlighted an increase in ransomware incidents impacting 14 of the 16 US critical infrastructure sectors, including Food and Agriculture.
"If the ransomware criminal business model continues to yield financial returns for ransomware actors, ransomware incidents will become more frequent," the advisory said.
News URL
Related news
- Hackers Exploit Paragon Partition Manager Driver Vulnerability in Ransomware Attacks (source)
- Hunters International ransomware claims attack on Tata Technologies (source)
- Toronto Zoo shares update on last year's ransomware attack (source)
- Feds name and charge alleged Silk Typhoon spies behind years of China-on-US attacks (source)
- US seizes domain of Garantex crypto exchange used by ransomware gangs (source)
- Ransomware gang creates tool to automate VPN brute-force attacks (source)
- SANS Institute Warns of Novel Cloud-Native Ransomware Attacks (source)
- ⚡ THN Weekly Recap: Router Hacks, PyPI Attacks, New Ransomware Decryptor, and More (source)
- BlackLock ransomware claims nearly 50 attacks in two months (source)
- Medusa Ransomware Strikes 300+ Targets: FBI & CISA Urge Immediate Action to #StopRansomware (source)