Senators on Cyberattacks: ‘Agricultural Security is National Security’

Schreiber Foods, an international dairy processing company in Green Bay, Wis., is the most recent to report a “cyber event” two weeks ago. It’s reported $2.5 million in ransom halted computer systems from Saturday to Monday. Speculations continue as Schreiber has yet to formally confirm or deny the allegations.

Cyberattacks and ransomware have impacted agriculture this year with JBS in June, Colonial Pipeline in July and Fort Dodge, Iowa-based New Cooperative in September, among others.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) took the floor on Monday to say these attacks hinder advanced agricultural practices: “As Iowa farmers adopt new technologies to get their crops to market, their exposure grows to similar attacks.”

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) followed suit, saying, “The ag sector is designated as critical infrastructure but historically has not received robust cybersecurity support from the government.” 

Advancing technology and fulfilling food demands while also working to improve soil and water quality “demands heavy reliance on interconnected devices and the internet, creating vulnerability,” she adds.

Agriculture supply chain criminals are rapidly working the system, says Davis Hake, co-founder and vice president of policy at Resilience Insurance, a cyber insurance solutions company. In the past two years, he says there’s been an estimated 300% increase in ransomware money taken in by the Ransomware Task Force.

“Cyber criminals will focus on people doing the attacks and then they have a market that sells those victims to folks who go through the extortions,” Hake says. “Then there’s a whole separate system for laundering that money.”

Hake, who previously served on the Obama Administration’s National Security Council writing cybersecurity legislation, says we have two avenues to address the cyberattacks:

1.    Step away from large automation trends such as IT infrastructure systems that sacrifice efficiency.
2.    Establish tactical policy to crush the issue.

The Biden Administrations addressed cybersecurity in a national security memorandum. Of the legislation, Ernst says, “the plan is voluntary and would severely limit its effectiveness.” 

Following the memorandum, Senators Ernst, Grassley, Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Jon Tester (D-MT) have offered permanent representation on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to address cybersecurity issues.

Both Grassley and Ernst stress cybersecurity should be a primary focus for congressional leaders, as “Agricultural security is national security.”