Fort Dodge, Iowa — A Fort Dodge-based farmers association took its systems offline after being hit by a ransomware attack, and officials with New Cooperative now say the hack was “successfully contained.”
Iowa State University electrical and computer engineering professor Doug Jacobson says an attack like this can shake farmers’ sense of security.
Jacobson says though the food system is fairly well distributed, it’s still vulnerable to attacks. He says the lasting reach of the hack remains unknown.
Jacobson says the food system is not highly interconnected like the power grid, and a co-op can move more easily to pen and paper, unlike a hospital. In May, the world’s largest meat processor, JBS, was hacked and had to temporarily shut down.
