Key Takeaways
- In 2021, JBS USA, a major meat processing company, suffered a ransomware attack by the REvil group that halted operations across North America and Australia, leading to a production loss of 40,000 tons of beef over two days
- The JBS ransomware incident resulted in an estimated $52 million revenue loss for the company due to shutdowns and supply disruptions in the beef supply chain
- During the 2021 JBS attack, ransom demands reached $70 million in Bitcoin, with JBS paying approximately $11 million to restore systems quickly
- The average financial loss from ransomware in the food industry reached $1.85 million per incident in 2023, including downtime and recovery costs
- JBS estimated total costs from the 2021 REvil ransomware attack at over $100 million when including lost productivity and regulatory fines
- TreeHouse Foods reported $15-20 million in direct costs from the 2022 BlackCat ransomware incident, covering IT remediation and business interruption insurance claims
- The JBS 2021 attack caused 2 days of full US plant shutdowns, resulting in 20,000 cattle backups and $30 million meat spoilage risk
- TreeHouse Foods' 2022 ransomware halted soup and snack production at 20 facilities for 5 days, delaying Walmart shipments
- Groupe Bigard 2022 attack stopped slaughtering 5,000 cattle daily, emptying supermarket meat shelves for a week
- JBS recovery from 2021 ransomware took 48 hours for payments but 2 weeks for full supply chain normalization
- TreeHouse Foods took 7 days to restore production post-2022 ransomware, with partial ops in 3 days
- Bigard restored slaughter lines in 5 days after 2022 attack, but full IT recovery took 3 weeks
- JBS paid $11 million ransom to expedite recovery in 2021, avoiding longer shutdowns
- Chainalysis tracked $22 million in food industry ransomware payments to REvil in 2021 alone
- BlackCat/ALPHV received undisclosed ransom from TreeHouse Foods post-2022 attack, estimated $5-10M
Ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting the food industry, causing massive financial and operational damage.
Attack Incidents
Attack Incidents Interpretation
Financial Losses
Financial Losses Interpretation
Mitigation Measures
Mitigation Measures Interpretation
Operational Disruptions
Operational Disruptions Interpretation
Ransom Payments
Ransom Payments Interpretation
Recovery Times
Recovery Times Interpretation
Sources & References
- Reference 1REUTERSreuters.comVisit source
- Reference 2CYBERSECURITYDIVEcybersecuritydive.comVisit source
- Reference 3BBCbbc.comVisit source
- Reference 4BLEEPINGCOMPUTERbleepingcomputer.comVisit source
- Reference 5DARKREADINGdarkreading.comVisit source
- Reference 6CISAcisa.govVisit source
- Reference 7SOPHOSsophos.comVisit source
- Reference 8CYBERSECURITYNEWScybersecuritynews.comVisit source
- Reference 9ABCabc.net.auVisit source
- Reference 10SECURITYWEEKsecurityweek.comVisit source
- Reference 11CYBLEcyble.comVisit source
- Reference 12LEMONDElemonde.frVisit source
- Reference 13NIKKEInikkei.comVisit source
- Reference 14HEISEheise.deVisit source
- Reference 15STUFFstuff.co.nzVisit source
- Reference 16CHAINALYSISchainalysis.comVisit source
- Reference 17SOCPRIMEsocprime.comVisit source
- Reference 18EMSISOFTemsisoft.comVisit source
- Reference 19TIMESOFINDIAtimesofindia.indiatimes.comVisit source
- Reference 20ITPROitpro.comVisit source
- Reference 21VERIZONverizon.comVisit source
- Reference 22AQUAFEEDaquafeed.comVisit source
- Reference 23HELPNETSECURITYhelpnetsecurity.comVisit source
- Reference 24BLOOMBERGbloomberg.comVisit source
- Reference 25SECsec.govVisit source
- Reference 26BLOGblog.chainalysis.comVisit source
- Reference 27ASSETSassets.sophos.comVisit source
- Reference 28LESECHOSlesechos.frVisit source
- Reference 29AFRafr.comVisit source
- Reference 30INVESTORSinvestors.sysco.comVisit source
- Reference 31IRir.flowersfoods.comVisit source
- Reference 32LA PRESSEla Presse.caVisit source
- Reference 33ILSOLE24OREilsole24ore.comVisit source
- Reference 34IBMibm.comVisit source
- Reference 35DATAGROdatagro.com.brVisit source
- Reference 36ELUNIVERSALeluniversal.com.mxVisit source
- Reference 37SERNAPESCAsernapesca.clVisit source
- Reference 38ECONOMICTIMESeconomictimes.indiatimes.comVisit source
- Reference 39MANAGER-MAGAZINmanager-magazin.deVisit source
- Reference 40NZHERALDnzherald.co.nzVisit source
- Reference 41JIJIjiji.comVisit source
- Reference 42TECHCRUNCHtechcrunch.comVisit source
- Reference 43CONTI-LEAKSconti-leaks.orgVisit source
- Reference 44WSJwsj.comVisit source
- Reference 45SUPPLYCHAINDIVEsupplychaindive.comVisit source
- Reference 46LEFIGAROlefigaro.frVisit source
- Reference 47BEEFCENTRALbeefcentral.comVisit source
- Reference 48RESTAURANTBUSINESSONLINErestaurantbusinessonline.comVisit source
- Reference 49LAPRESSElapresse.caVisit source
- Reference 50FOODNAVIGATORfoodnavigator.comVisit source
- Reference 51BAKERYANDSNACKSbakeryandsnacks.comVisit source
- Reference 52THEGROCERthegrocer.co.ukVisit source
- Reference 53AGRIBRASILISagribrasilis.com.brVisit source
- Reference 54ELFINANCIEROelfinanciero.com.mxVisit source
- Reference 55AQUAaqua.clVisit source
- Reference 56BAKERYINFObakeryinfo.co.ukVisit source
- Reference 57SEAFOODSOURCEseafoodsource.comVisit source
- Reference 58ASIAasia.nikkei.comVisit source
- Reference 59SEATTLETIMESseattletimes.comVisit source
- Reference 60AGWEBagweb.comVisit source
- Reference 61INFOBAEinfobae.comVisit source
- Reference 62MODERNRETAILmodernretail.coVisit source
- Reference 63DAIRYINDIAdairyindia.netVisit source
- Reference 64FTft.comVisit source
- Reference 65FOODBUSINESSNEWSfoodbusinessnews.netVisit source
- Reference 66USINENOUVELLEusinenouvelle.comVisit source
- Reference 67NORTHQUEENSLANDREGISTERnorthqueenslandregister.com.auVisit source
- Reference 68CNBCcnbc.comVisit source
- Reference 69AGROPURagropur.comVisit source
- Reference 70ILFATTOALIMENTAREilfattoalimentare.itVisit source
- Reference 71FOODPROCESSINGfoodprocessing.comVisit source
- Reference 72FOODMANUFACTUREfoodmanufacture.co.ukVisit source
- Reference 73MEXICOBUSINESSmexicobusiness.newsVisit source
- Reference 74SALMONBUSINESSsalmonbusiness.comVisit source
- Reference 75SEAFOODMEDIAseafoodmedia.comVisit source
- Reference 76ASAHIasahi.comVisit source
- Reference 77STIMULANTCOFFEEstimulantcoffee.comVisit source
- Reference 78FARMPROGRESSfarmprogress.comVisit source
- Reference 79GOBgob.peVisit source
- Reference 80USFOODSusfoods.comVisit source
- Reference 81AMULamul.comVisit source
- Reference 82NYTIMESnytimes.comVisit source
- Reference 83GOgo.chainalysis.comVisit source
- Reference 84ALPHVBLACKCATalphvblackcat.comVisit source
- Reference 85CONTI-DOCSconti-docs.comVisit source
- Reference 86LOCKBITAPT41lockbitapt41.comVisit source
- Reference 87REPUBBLICArepubblica.itVisit source
- Reference 88COMPUTINGcomputing.co.ukVisit source
- Reference 89CRYPTOcrypto.newsVisit source
- Reference 90CLOP-LEAKclop-leak.siteVisit source
- Reference 91SENTINELONEsentinelone.comVisit source
- Reference 92NEWSnews.sophos.comVisit source
- Reference 93APNEWSapnews.comVisit source
- Reference 94AKIRARANSOMakiraransom.comVisit source
- Reference 95BUSINESS-STANDARDbusiness-standard.comVisit source
- Reference 96UNILEVERunilever.comVisit source
- Reference 97ARSTECHNICAarstechnica.comVisit source
- Reference 98CROWDSTRIKEcrowdstrike.comVisit source
- Reference 99MANDIANTmandiant.comVisit source
- Reference 100PROOFPOINTproofpoint.comVisit source
- Reference 101GARTNERgartner.comVisit source
- Reference 102DRAGOSdragos.comVisit source
- Reference 103DARKTRACEdarktrace.comVisit source
- Reference 104VEEAMveeam.comVisit source
- Reference 105SECUREWORKSsecureworks.comVisit source
- Reference 106NVLPUBSnvlpubs.nist.govVisit source
- Reference 107ZSCALERzscaler.comVisit source
- Reference 108QUALYSqualys.comVisit source
- Reference 109IC3ic3.govVisit source
- Reference 110MIMECASTmimecast.comVisit source
- Reference 111NOZOMI-NETWORKSnozomi-networks.comVisit source
- Reference 112CYBEREASONcybereason.comVisit source
- Reference 113SPLUNKsplunk.comVisit source
- Reference 114OKTAokta.comVisit source
- Reference 115BITSIGHTbitsight.comVisit source
- Reference 116MICROSOFTmicrosoft.comVisit source
- Reference 117RUBRIKrubrik.comVisit source
- Reference 118COALITIONINCcoalitioninc.comVisit source





