The world’s largest meat supplier, JBS USA was the victim of an “organized cybersecurity attack” on Sunday, USA Todayreports.
A statement from JBS explained that the attack impacted some of the servers that support its North American and Australian IT systems. “The company took immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities, and activating the company’s global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation,” JBS said. “The company’s backup servers were not affected, and it is actively working with an Incident Response firm to restore its systems as soon as possible.”
The company added that 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.”
According to NBC News, JBS is the lead meat and food processing company in Australia, where it employs 11,000 people. The company is also the largest processor of beef, pork, and other prepared foods in the U.S.
“Despite the fact that JBS accounts for around 20 percent of our processing production here in Australia, we’re not expecting there to be significant impacts on exports so long as this isn’t a protracted shutdown,” Australian Agriculture Minister David Littleproud told the news outlet on Tuesday, adding that the government and Australian Federal Police are working with JBS to settle the issue and find the culprits.
While it’s unclear if the attack will affect the supply chain, “resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers,” JBS explained.
