Major South African chicken producer Astral Foods had its processing and deliveries severely affected by a cyberattack last week, which has already resulted in the loss of nearly $1 million in profits, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Operations of all Astral Foods business units have since been recovered following the implementation of the necessary protocols, according to the firm, which confirmed that the intrusion has not resulted in any exposure of sensitive data belonging to customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Astral Foods has not provided additional details regarding the incident, which has not yet been admitted by any ransomware group. Such a development comes as the agricultural sector faced increased ransomware attacks in recent years, with the industry reported by the Food and Agriculture-Information Sharing and Analysis Center to have targeted with at least 167 ransomware intrusions in 2023. Mondelez, JBS, Dole, and Sysco are among the major food providers subjected to significant ransomware incidents over the past half-decade.
