AGCO, a global agricultural machinery maker, suffered a devastating cyberattack last May after ransomware hijacked access to its computer systems. Ransomware is malicious software designed to block access to a computer system and hold it hostage until payment is made. The Duluth, Georgia-based company has not disclosed how much, if any, it paid criminals, but most of its operations were protected and were up and running a week later. It says it does.

TechRepublic reports over 1.2 million ransomware threats per month detected by Barracuda Networks between January and June 2022, higher than the same period in 2021 . So farmers should be concerned as they adopt more smart technology on their farms.

Computer scientists at the University of Guelph are now in charge of the only Canadian university research center investigating increasing cyberattacks on farm networks. Dr. Ali Dehghantanha not only helps farmers fight off hackers, but says his pioneering research will help growers prevent such attacks and help governments enforce data security standards in the agricultural sector. I would like to encourage you to formulate

“Before things get out of control, we need to think about it,” said Dehghantanha of the cyber science lab in the university’s computer science department. Smart agriculture and increasingly interconnected sensors, smart meters, cameras and other devices will make farmers more vulnerable to “data insecurity” and potential cyberattacks, Guelph researchers say. increase.

“The level of cybersecurity protection in agriculture is minimal to non-existent,” said Dehghantanha. “From a cybersecurity perspective, the agricultural sector is the weak underbelly.”

Read the full article at www.farmersforum.com.