The importance of cybersecurity on the farm. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Recent incidents with grain elevators getting hacked and companies having data held hostage calls for heightened cybersecurity as meticulous hackers request ransoms against agricultural companies. Dan Hanson with SVP Management Liability explains how cyber-attacks are a targeted avenue of opportunity.
“They’re going to go to where you have the easiest access to a lot of information. In ag at times, you know, with the advent of Internet of Things, maybe some less investment in cybersecurity, maybe it’s a little bit easier target in some spaces,” he said. “It’s critical infrastructure and obviously when you can impact food chain that gets people’s attention very quickly.”
Hanson says producers can protect themselves by consulting with cybersecurity specialists Melbourne.
“Get a little bit better at cyber protections and others and you lessen your chance for an event. So, I’d say awareness, having a plan if something does happen your organization, and then multifactor authentication would be three things that a producer could focus in on and probably help themselves quite a bit.
He says be aware, and have a response plan ready, in case you become a victim of a cyberattack.
“Do we have counsel lined up? Do we have a forensic investigator that we have, we’re aware of that we can talk to come in and see what happened to us, over what time period, and who was actually impacted. Those are two very important steps, have a plan, simple plan, this is what we’re going to do if we have an event, and then practice it a few times.”
Hanson says to have that plan in place, just like any other emergency plan for your operation.
Information in this story was provided to farm broadcasters by the Pork Checkoff.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.