A cybersecurity expert says the agriculture sector needs to be aware about the possibility of ransomware attacks and take appropriate measures to ensure it is not a target for hackers.

There was a wakeup call in early June when the world’s largest meat processing company was hit by a ransomware attack. Ransomware is a type of cyber-attack that infects your device, holding your information hostage until you pay a fee. Brazil-based JBS had to shut down operations for one day at several plants in North America, including the large beef processing facility in High River, Alberta.

JBS decided to pay a Russian computer hacking group $13.3 million to get the encryption code.

David Masson is the Director of Enterprise Security at cybersecurity AI company, Darktrace.  He says it is very important to have updated antivirus software and firewall protection.

“There is always something known as scanning going on,” he said. “Often times, it’s not malicious scanning. It is just large companies sending messages out, but it is a wakeup call for people to realize that it is possible for somebody to come knocking on my door and for me not to actually know about it.”

Masson says hackers prefer targets where they can walk through the front door, so that is why he recommends changing passwords often.

“Use strong passwords for everything. Don’t use the same password because if it gets compromised, everything gets compromised. I know it’s a pain in the neck, but do it and you’ll probably be okay,” he said.

You can hear the full interview with Masson below.