Minnesota agricultural firm Crystal Valley Cooperative said it had been targeted in a ransomware attack in recent days, making it the second Midwestern farm-services provider in a week to be forced to take systems offline due to cybersecurity incidents.
Crystal Valley, which sells supplies like fertilizer to farmers and buys their crops, said it became aware of the attack on Sunday, prompting it to take operating systems offline and to stop accepting major credit cards.
"This attack has infected the computer systems at Crystal Valley and severely interrupted the daily operations of the company," according to a statement on its website. The company asked customers for understanding while they resolve the issue.
“The attack left Crystal Valley unable to mix fertilizer or fulfill orders for livestock feed”, said Kevin Paap, a corn and soybean farmer in Garden City, Minnesota. "With the help of some other local co-ops, they're helping grind some feed and sharing the burden."
NEW Cooperative, Inc. in Iowa also reported recently that its systems were offline to contain a cybersecurity incident. A Russian-speaking cybercriminal group named BlackMatter said on its website that it stole data from the farm services provider.
The disruptions are hitting the Farm Belt as growers gear up for the autumn harvest. Crystal Valley operates eight grain elevators with the capacity to store a total of 25 million bushels in Minnesota, the third biggest U.S. soybean-producing state and fourth biggest corn producer, according to its website. Two locations load huge 110-car trains for delivery to big buyers or exporters.
Paap, also President of the Minnesota Farm Bureau, said he has been able to deliver grain to Crystal Valley's elevator in Vernon Center with minor delays as the normally automated process is offline. "It's old school, with hand-written tickets instead of the computer reading the card on the side of your truck as you drive in," he said.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Enough already! These aren’t the first cyber-attacks on U.S. agricultural firms in 2021. They are very disruptive and expensive. It’s time for our government to recognize the critical nature of these crimes and put a stop to it immediately. Experts agree about who is behind these attacks and it’s time to go after them. If that means getting tougher with Russian President Putin, then so be it. Perhaps our ag industry should also step up their efforts to improve security and encryption of their software to protect data. Bottom line – we must put an end to these attacks sooner, than later!
