Food & Beverage

Cyberattack shuts down world's biggest meat processor

Photo: iStock.

June 1, 2021

The world's largest meat processor, JBS, said it was the target of an organized cybersecurity attack that affected some of its servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems, according to a news release. The company said it suspended all affected systems and notified authorities, and that none of its backup servers was affected.

JBS is now working with an outside firm to restore systems and said it's not aware any customer, supplier or employee data was "compromised or misused as a result of the situation." It did say, however, that resolving the issues related to the attack "will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers."

In Australia, where JBS is based, the Associated Press reported the company was closed for a second day today and that government sources said it could be days before production is up and running again. The company's U.S. base is Greeley, Colorado.

Australian Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said that even in Australia, where the company accounts for about one-fifth of the nation's processing production, no significant effects on exports were expected "so long as this isn't a protracted shutdown," according to the AP report.

The attack was discovered in Australia when workers returned to the office Monday Australian time. JBS exports about 70% of its Australian-produced meat.