Cybersecurity in the Fresh Produce Industry

Cybersecurity works to protect and prevent industry members from cyberattacks. Cybercrime has the potential to stop production, leak information, cost large amounts of money and negatively affect business. Some ways to improve cybersecurity and make produce industry suppliers safe from attack are transparency, planning, training, sharing data and improving practices. Cybersecurity is important in industry and food supply, according to the “IFPA Takes on Tech” podcast. In today’s world, every company uses technology and needs to take protective and preventative measures. Greg Gatzke, president of ZAGtech, explains some of the ways companies can be attacked, including compromised emails, bank fraud and CryptoLocker attack, which involves hackers gaining access into the private environment, sharing information and locking machines used for processing. Cryptolocking can halt processing for days or even weeks. If not caught within 24 hours, it is harder to fix and more business is lost. Another example of a cybersecurity issue is attackers holding supply chain information for ransom and demanding large sums of money to release the information back to respective companies. These are just some of the reasons the agriculture industry must implement systems to formulate a plan to prevent attacks. Although cybersecurity is growing in the industry and has been a developing point of interest, there is still a stigma behind “cybershaming” and embarrasement to come forward and talk about an attack. It is crucial for individuals to share data, experiences and threats in order to minimize the possibility of cybercrime for others. Spreading knowledge, being transparent and collaborating with other industry members are helpful ways to solve cyber security breaches and problems.