"Farming Group Warns of Supply Chain Chaos After Ransomware Attack"

An Iowan agricultural group hit by ransomware over the weekend is claiming that the impact of the attack on the US public could be worse than the Colonial Pipeline incident.  The attack has been traced to BlackMatter, a group that some believe has links to the DarkMatter outfit responsible for the days-long oil supply outage in May, which sent prices soaring on the East Coast.  According to reports, it targeted New Cooperative, a major US grain producer, with a $5.9m ransom demand.  In emails sent to the ransomware gang during negotiations, New Cooperative wrote that about 40% of grain production runs on their software, and 11 million animals' feed schedules rely on them.  New Cooperative also stated that the ransomware attack will cause a public disruption to the grain, pork, and chicken supply chain.  The ransomware gang has not budged on their $5.9m ransom demand.  The Biden administration has made it clear that 16 critical infrastructure sectors of the US economy are off-limits to cybercrime groups thought to be operating from Russia.  BlackMatter claimed that New Cooperative doesn't reach the threshold that the President laid out. After a relatively quiet summer, this attack would appear to be testing those red lines.  Security researchers stated that if this is the attitude Russia-based threat actors have towards the President's warnings, this could indicate similar attacks to come.

Infosecurity reports: "Farming Group Warns of Supply Chain Chaos After Ransomware Attack"