One-Fifth of U.S. Beef Capacity Wiped Out by JBS Cyberattack

A cyberattack on JBS SA, the largest meat producer globally, has forced the shutdown of some of world’s largest slaughterhouses, and there are signs that the closures are spreading. JBS’s five biggest beef plants in the U.S. -- which altogether handle 22,500 cattle a day -- have halted processing following a weekend attack on the company’s computer networks, according to JBS posts on Facebook, labor unions and employees. Those outages alone have wiped out nearly a fifth of America’s production. Slaughter operations across Australia were also down, according to a trade group. One of Canada’s largest beef plants was idled for a second day. It’s unclear exactly how many plants globally have been affected by the attack as JBS has yet to release details that granular. The prospect of more extensive shutdowns around the world is already upending agricultural markets and raising concerns about food security as hackers increasingly target critical infrastructure. In the U.S., JBS accounts for about a quarter of all U.S. beef capacity and roughly a fifth of all pork capacity. Livestock futures slumped while pork prices rose. JBS suspended its North American and Australian computer systems after an organized assault on Sunday on some of its servers, the Brazilian meat giant said Monday in an emailed statement. Without commenting on operations at its plants, JBS said the incident may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers...The White House has offered assistance to JBS after the company notified the Biden administration on Sunday of a cyberattack from a criminal organization likely based in Russia, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday. Biden has directed the administration to do whatever they can to mitigate the impact on the meat supply. Any substantial disruption in meat processing would further stoke mounting political concerns about the concentration of the meat industry and complaints of the four giant companies that control more than 80% of U.S. beef processing unfairly leverage their power over farmers and consumers...MORE

UPDATE

JBS workers back to work following cyberattack