US Agriculture Chief Urges Farm Co-Ops to Toughen Cyber Defenses

By Mike Dorning

Bloomberg

Farm Progress

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urged U.S. agricultural cooperatives to “harden” defenses against cyber attacks after Iowa’s New Cooperative Inc. was targeted in a ransomware attack last week.

“We want to make sure during this harvest that we don’t have any additional disruptions as a result of systems being hacked,” Vilsack said Wednesday in a speech to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s annual meeting.

A spokeswoman for Vilsack didn’t immediately respond to a request for further information on the threat posed.

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