New Cooperative, an Iowa-based provider of agriculture services and owner of the SOILMAP platform, was recently hit by BlackMatter ransomware. About 1 TB of data was stolen in the attack, and the cybercriminals responsible are demanding about $6 million in ransom.
According to New Cooperative, 40% of America’s grain production runs through their software. The co-op says that the attack could have widespread implications on grain, pork, and chicken supply chains if their operations are not quickly restored.
In the same week. the Minnesota-based Crystal Valley Cooperative — a farm supply and grain marketing organization — was also hit by ransomware. Crystal Valley, which serves over 2500 farmers, had to temporarily shut down its services.
The Active Protection module in Acronis Cyber Protect detects and blocks ransomware threats such as BlackMatter before they cause data loss or interrupt business continuity.
