Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas joined several of his lawmaker colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging accountability of foreign adversaries for recent cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and the U.S. food system in order to find a reasonable solution to prevent future attacks.
The letter highlights the recent hack involving meat producing company, JBS USA. The congressional group wants the Biden Administration to classify food supply disruptions as national security issues. JBS USA is America’s largest meatpacker by volume, processing nearly 25% of U.S. beef and almost 20% of domestic pork. It is also the nation’s second largest poultry producer. Over the Memorial Day weekend, JBS fell victim to a cybersecurity attack that shut down the company’s operations across North America until they paid a ransom of $11 million to REvil, a Russian black hat hacking group.
“There is no greater threat to national security than a threat to our food supply chain,” said Lucas. “As cyberattacks are becoming more and more prevalent, we must address and protect America’s critical infrastructure — whether it be our food, energy, or financial systems. Ensuring we build upon existing cyber capabilities and strengthening the cyber resiliency of our industries is critical to lessening the potential harm to America’s economy and our daily lives.”
Read the full letter here.
