A group of criminals from Russia may be behind the cyber attack on the Brazilian company JBS, the largest meat processor in the world. JBS has informed the US government, White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
JBS said in a conversation that ransom has been demanded by a gang that may be operating out of Russia, Jean-Pierre said. The US has since contacted the Russian government about the matter. According to the White House spokesperson, the message was conveyed that “proper countries do not harbor ransomware criminals”. The FBI has been assigned to the case.
Work comes to a standstill
The hacking attack, which started on Sunday and targeted American computer servers, according to JBS, has brought work to a standstill in JBS branches in several countries. Factories in North America and Australia were particularly affected.
JBS says in the most recent press statement that it expects to be able to reopen most factories today. “Significant progress” has been made in resolving the issues, the company said.
JBS also has branches in Europe, but it is not clear whether these have also been shut down by the hackers. A subsidiary in the Netherlands, spring roll factory Moy Park, was in any case not affected, a spokesman said.
Colonial Pipeline-hack
The hack attack at JBS comes not long after a major cyber attack against the American oil transport company Colonial Pipeline. The hack three weeks ago forced a major oil pipeline in the US to be temporarily shut down, causing gas shortages at gas stations and soaring fuel prices.
According to Bloomberg news agency, Colonial Pipeline paid about 4 million euros to the hackers to regain access to the systems.
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