NEW Cooperative ransomware attack threatens US food supply

By now, it should be abundantly clear that no sector of the business landscape can claim immunity to the threat of ransomware attacks. As cybercriminals become more prolific and sophisticated, andtheir ability to unleash a torrent of harm becomes more apparent, every sector needs to increase their preparedness for the inevitable threat of malicious actors.

What happened in the NEW Cooperative ransomware attack?

The recent ransomware attack on NEW Cooperative, based in Iowa, is reported to involve a nearly $6 million dollar ransom demand and has the potential to significantly disrupt the nation’s food supply. This attack is reminiscent of a previous incident involving the world’s largest meat processor, JBS, which occurred earlier this year and resulted in a reported $11 million ransom payout, while triggering prolonged periods of operational and supply disruption.

In the days following the NEW Cooperative ransomware attack, cyber forensics researchers indicated they found hundreds of instances of breached employee credentials connected to NEW Cooperative. This type of breach and subsequent extortion have drawn comparisons to the suspected vulnerabilities uncovered in the Colonial Pipeline attack reported in May. As with that incident, the NEW Cooperative attack is almost certain to have a “long tail” as the effects of operational disruption are felt throughout the agricultural and livestock supply ecosystem.

How to protect your company from ransomware attacks

Once again, the rising incidence of ransomware attacks underscores the need for businesses leaders to rethink their approach to data and infrastructure protection. As it relates to valuable data assets, a focus upon perimeter or systems security alone is arguably outdated. The time has come to employ a data-centric information protection model to increase the assurance of an organization to withstand attacks, mitigate the potential for data exfiltration, and minimize attacker leverage to extort ransom following a breach. Once the horse is out of the barn, so to speak, the damage is done, and the cascade of disruption and financial impact begins. Increasingly, ransomware attacks involved double or triple extortion tactics, as attackers seek to harvest multiple long-term “wins” from a successful breach.

Achieving a data security posture where data is rendered unusable by a bad actor, and businesses can assure high availability to data in storage, represents a proactive means to avoid becoming the next undesired headline. However, security operations are often siloed across organizations, making the implementation of a multi-facet information security framework challenging. This dynamic leads to organizations investing in multiple discrete solutions to achieve a layered defense to protect valuable information assets. Not surprisingly, IT spending to manage these complex systems has increased in parallel.

Myota’s Converged Data Security Platform combines the security elements of Zero Trust protection, advanced data dispersion, data resilience and administrative control to change the rules in data protection, even when other security measures fail.

Myota makes it easy to deploy and manage enterprise data security. Users simply drag files with sensitive data into a folder where they are encrypted, shredded, and dispersed, rendering the information unusable to an attacker. Administrators can implement Zero Trust access control by user and device and automate security policies by group or function.

At a time when ransomware attacks are inevitable, organizations can avoid the high costs of ransom payments by taking proactive data security measures. Stop worrying about whether your company will be the next victim of a ransomware attack and invest in best-in-class protections that give you peace of mind. Learn more about how Myota works.