JBS USA confirmed that it was the target of an organized cybersecurity attack.
According to a statement issued on May 31, the company said the attack affected some of the servers supporting the company’s information technology (IT) systems in the United States and in Australia.
“The company took immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities and activating the company’s global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation. The company’s backup servers were not affected, and it is actively working with an incident response firm to restore its systems as soon as possible,” the JBS statement read.
JBS further stated that it is not presently aware of any evidence that any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of the situation.
The company also said that it will take time to resolve the incident, which could cause delays in certain transactions with customers and suppliers.
According to a Bloomberg report, the incident led to the idling of processing at a processing plant in Canada, and the suspension of beef and lamb slaughterings in Australia.
JBS USA is a leading processor of beef, pork and prepared foods in the U.S., a leading beef processor in Canada, and a leading processor of beef, pork, lamb and prepared foods in Australia. It is also a majority shareholder of Pilgrim’s Pride, the second largest poultry company in the United States, with operations also in Mexico and in Europe.
JBS USA is a unit of JBS SA, headquartered in Sao Paolo, Brazil. According to the WATTPoultry.com Top Companies Database, JBS is the world’s largest protein supplier and the second largest food company. It also ranks first globally as a poultry producer, having slaughtered 4.04 billion broilers during the past year.
It’s Seara subsidiary operates 30 poultry processing units, while Pilgrim’s Pride has 36 poultry processing units.
