It was only a matter of time.
In the last month, agriculture has been significantly impacted by two major cyber attacks. In June, CDK Global announced to its 15,000 car and equipment dealerships, some of them ag equipment sites, that its network was down as a result of a cyber attack. In the last two weeks, Federated Co-operatives Limited in Western Canada had its cardlock system and inventory system go down.
Chris Law, partner with MNP, says unfortunately cyber threats are real and likely only to increase over time. Agriculture’s internet of things and data sharing leaves it vulnerable to cyber attacks; agriculture is also a key part of any economy, and that makes it a target to bad actors, he says.
Our modern world requires connectivity, but there are ways that individuals and businesses can build layers of security against a direct attack, Law says. For any banking or sensitive information, use the multi-authenticator option offered, for starters, he says. Too often, individuals and business know there are security things they should do, but they don’t see it through.
Asking questions of the companies and platforms you share information with is also important, Law says, but understand that no company is 100 per cent protected from a cyber threat. Law says that any business should treat cyber threats like any other business risk: understand the risk, create a “what if” scenario, and practice what the steps are should a system go down or software become compromised, he says.
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