Agencies warn agriculture and food groups to protect against ransomware

Three federal agencies warned critical infrastructure entities, including food and agriculture organizations, to implement new recommendations and hopefully, protect against BlackMatter Ransomware attacks. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency put out a joint release on Monday, which includes technical details, analysis, and assessment of this cyber threat, as well as several mitigation actions that can be taken to reduce the risk to this ransomware. First seen in July 2021, BlackMatter is a ransomware-as-a-service (Raas) tool, which means the developers are able to profit from cybercriminal affiliates. BlackMatter actors have attacked numerous U.S.-based organizations and have demanded ransom payments ranging from $80,000 to $15,000,000 in Bitcoin and Monero, the release noted. Over the last several months, JBS, the world’s largest meat-processing corporation, suffered a ransomware attack, along with NEW Cooperative which makes farming software, and Crystal Valley cooperative, which handles farm supply and grain merchandising, in Minnesota. The joint advisory “highlights the evolving and persistent nature of criminal cyber actors and the need for a collective public and private approach to reduce the impact and prevalence of ransomware attacks,” said Eric Goldstein, Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, CISA. “CISA, FBI and NSA are taking every step possible to try to make it harder for cyber criminals to operate. Americans can help us in this long-term endeavor by visiting Stopransomware.gov to learn how to reduce their risk of becoming a victim of ransomware.”