It was decided to pay the ransom, in fact, just in case: most of the enterprises had already resumed work by that time.
The American division of the company has confirmed that it paid the equivalent of $ 11 million in ransom in response to the hack.
As the CEO of the company André Nogueira said, “it was a very difficult decision,” but the company’s management took it “to prevent potential risks for customers”. At the same time, it is noted that at the time of payment, the work of most of the company’s facilities had already been restored.
JBS said in a statement that at the time of the payment, the company had restored operations to most of its facilities. The company also said that the annual cost of protecting against such attacks exceeds this amount many times.
“JBS USA was able to quickly resolve the problems posed by the attack with cybersecurity protocols, sophisticated systems and encrypted copy servers,” the company said in a statement posted on its website that it confirms payment of the ransom.
JBS notified the administration of US President Joe Biden that the attack came from the Russian-speaking criminal organization Revil. The White House noted that the United States has been in contact with the Russian authorities on this issue. The Federal Bureau of Investigation believes that the hacker groups REvil and Sodinokibi were involved in the attack on the Brazilian company. The FBI also believes they have ties to Russia.
JBS is the world’s largest meat company selling, processing beef, poultry and pork from Australia to South America and Europe. The company processes nearly a quarter of beef and about one-fifth of pork in the United States. Analysts noted that the shutdown of its factories could trigger a spike in consumer prices, which have already surged this year due to strong demand. For example, according to the Steiner Consulting Group, a research company for the meat industry, even the day of a company’s failure can significantly affect the beef market and wholesale prices.
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