Another Cyberattack in the US: 'Why Would They Stop?'

First a gas pipeline was the target of a cyberattack. Now, the world's largest meat company. JBS Inc., which has more than 150 locations around the globe, announced it was the target of an "organized" attack against some of its servers, affecting IT systems in the US and Australia, CNN Business reports. "The company took immediate action, suspending all affected systems" and alerting the proper authorities, JBS says in a statement, adding that its backup servers didn't get hit. Addressing another concern, the meat supplier notes the company doesn't believe at this point that "any customer, supplier, or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of the situation." There's been no word yet, though, on who may have carried out the attack.

This breach so close on the heels of the Colonial Pipeline attack last month underscores "that nothing is safe," Paul Rosenzweig, an ex-Department of Homeland Security official and current senior fellow for the nonprofit R Street Institute, tells USA Today. "The only way to be safe in this world is to unplug completely. And you can't do that and be economically competitive." JBS says IT gurus, third-party pros, and an "incident response" firm are "actively working" to get all systems back up and running, per its statement. It's a process that could take some time, "which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers." Rosenzweig says that the ransom paid in the Colonial Pipeline incident has made hackers more brazen. "So long as the internet is a place of anonymity, the criminals will be able to act with impunity," he tells USA Today. "Why would they stop?" (More cyberattack stories.)