US agricultural machinery manufacturer AGCO today confirmed it was hit with a ransomware attack and anticipates adverse effects on business operations for at least several days.
The attack was first reported by French daily LeParisien as taking place against Massey-Ferguson corporate websites in France, Germany and China. According to the newspaper, nearly 1,000 employees were sent home from AGCO and GIMA production facilities in France.
Today, BleepingComputer reports that in order to prevent the attack from spreading AGCO likely shut down portions of its IT systems. AGCO also gave a statement that it may take potentially longer than several days to fully repair its IT systems.
“This attack on AGCO comes just a few short weeks after the FBI released a warning on ransomware attacks targeting the US agriculture industry,” says Craig McDonald, Vice President of Product Management at network automation, security and management solution company BackBox. The FBI warning, issued on April 20, 2022, stated that the attacks were potentially timed to critical seasons.
BleepingComputer also points out that the AGCO Agriculture Foundation yesterday donated $50,000 to the BORSCH initiative that assists Ukrainian farming communities affected by the war with Russia. President Joe Biden on March 21, 2022 warned of intelligence pointing to increased Russian cyberthreats toward US businesses and the need to prepare defenses against attacks.
For companies interested in covering their bases in light of the AGCO attack, cybersecurity experts recently shared with IndustryWeek a set of short-term defense strategies against Russian cyberaggression.