Ransomware Attack On JBS Likely From Russia

(RTTNews) – JBS(JBSAY), the world’s largest meat supplier who is responsible for almost one-fifth of the meat supplied worldwide, has become the latest victim of a ransomware attack. According to the White House, the attack might have originated from a criminal organization based in Russia.

The US Government had its say in the incident as White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “JBS notified the administration that the ransom demand came from a criminal organization, likely based in Russia”

Taking it forward, Karine added, “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.”

After the SolarWinds attack and the breakdown of Colonial Pipelines for almost six days, in early May, this attack only bolsters the vulnerability of the large business databases in the country.

JBS confirmed that it was the target of an organized cybersecurity attack, affecting some of the servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems. The attack on Brazil’s JBS also affected livestock slaughter at its plants in several US states.

The company said as immediate action it has suspended all affected systems notified authorities and activated the company’s global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation.

The company added that “resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers.”

JBS, which has its business in 15 countries with customers spreading over 100 countries, said, “it is not aware of any evidence at this time that any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of the situation.” However, the company said that the backup servers were not damaged and it is working with an Incident Response firm to bring the systems back online.