There’s an increasing amount of technology and data on farms and in the agricultural sector. But as farm equipment becomes more advanced and connected to the internet, there also are concerns they’ll become targets for cyberattacks, something that could also put Canada’s food security at risk.

Ali Dehghantanha is a computer scientist at the University of Guelph and the Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity and threat intelligence.

His Cyber Science Lab focuses on cybersecurity, digital forensics, threat hunting and threat intelligence. In the past year, it has been called to investigate 11 cases of cyberattacks involving the farm industry. Dehghantanha said that the most common attacks involve ransomware, where the attacker gains access to a computer system and data, then asks for payment to release it back to the individual.

Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Date: September 15th, 2022

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/canada-agriculture-industry-cyber-attacks-1.6570959

Discussion

1. Why would “cyber barn raising” help farmers?
2. Clearly cyber ransomware attacks are a major source of threat. Why don’t the developers of the technology do more to protect against this?