"The Feds Warn That Hackers Could Hold Midwestern Harvests Hostage With Ransomware"

American agriculture increasingly relies on software to maintain the country's position as the world's leading food producer. However, this reliance on code-driven machinery has increased the chances of ransomware attacks, which could be especially devastating during harvest. On a farm or ranch, fewer chores are being completed without access to the Internet. Farmers use data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to decide where and when to water or fertilize their crops, when to inoculate their livestock, and how to manage their feed. This use of technology has pushed the US to the top of the world's agricultural exporters, but it has also made farms more vulnerable to cyberattacks. FBI Special Agent Eugene Kowel, based in Omaha, emphasized that cybercriminals understand that hacking into US agriculture can result in a large payout. The stakes are even higher during the harvest season in the fall, when farmers are under pressure to get crops out of fields as soon as possible and are willing to pay a ransom to get back to work. Hackers take advantage of the time constraint. In 2021, six grain companies were targeted by cyberattacks, including those in Iowa and Nebraska, according to Kowel. Even after harvest, are constantly looking for weaknesses to extort money from farmers, steal their information, or take control of their operations. George Grispos is a cybersecurity professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and researches flaws in agricultural machinery. He believes that risks will only increase as technology advances and the industry embraces innovations, such as precision agriculture and self-driving tractors. He says that agricultural equipment was not designed with security in mind, so there is currently nothing preventing someone from hijacking a piece of machinery, steering it, and transporting it somewhere it should not be. Farmers are urged to practice better "cyber hygiene" by updating software, creating strong passwords, and ignoring suspicious messages. This article continues to discuss the need to improve cybersecurity practices in agriculture. 

HPPR reports "The Feds Warn That Hackers Could Hold Midwestern Harvests Hostage With Ransomware"