NEW YORK: The world’s largest meat processing company says it paid the equivalent of $11 million to hackers who broke into its computer system late last month.
Brazil-based JBS SA said on May 31 that it was the victim of a ransomware attack, but Wednesday was the first time the company’s US division confirmed that it had paid the ransom.
“This was a very difficult decision to make for our company and for me personally,” said Andre Nogueira, the CEO of JBS USA. “However, we felt this decision had to be made to prevent any potential risk for our customers.”
JBS said the vast majority of its facilities were operational at the time it made the payment, but it decided to pay in order to avoid any unforeseen issues and ensure no data was exfiltrated.
The FBI has attributed the attack to REvil, a Russian-speaking gang that has made some of the largest ransomware demands on record in recent months. The FBI said it will work to bring the group to justice and it urged anyone who is the victim of a cyberattack to contact the bureau immediately.
The attack targeted servers supporting JBS’s operations in North America and Australia. Production was disrupted for several days.
Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced it had recovered most of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment made by Colonial Pipeline, the operator of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline.
Colonial paid a ransom of 75 bitcoin __ then valued at $4.4 million __ in early May to a Russia-based hacker group. The operation to seize cryptocurrency reflected a rare victory in the fight against ransomware as US officials scramble to confront a rapidly accelerating threat targeting critical industries around the world.
It wasn’t immediately clear if JBS also paid its ransom in bitcoin.
JBS said it spends more than $200 million annually on IT and employs more than 850 IT professionals globally.
The company said forensic investigations are still ongoing, but it doesn’t believe any company, customer or employee data was compromised.
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Meat company JBS confirms it paid $11 million ransom in cyberattack
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Meat company JBS confirms it paid $11 million ransom in cyberattack
- Brazil-based JBS SA said it decided to pay to avoid any unforeseen issues and ensure no data was exfiltrated
- FBI attributes attack to REvil, a Russian-speaking gang that has made some of the largest ransomware demands on record in recent months
Trump to launch Board of Peace that some fear rivals UN
- US president sees board as going beyond Gaza to address global challenges
- 35 countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye have committed; Russia considering
DAVOS, Switzerland: US President Donald Trump will on Thursday launch his Board of Peace, originally envisaged to help end the Gaza war but which he now sees having a wider role that Europe and some others fear will rival or undermine the United Nations.
Trump, who will chair the board, has invited dozens of other world leaders to join it and sees the grouping addressing other global challenges beyond Gaza, though he does not intend it as a replacement for the United Nations, he has said.
Some traditional US allies have balked at joining the board, which Trump says permanent members must help fund with a payment of $1 billion each, either responding cautiously or declining the invitation.
No other permanent member of the UN Security Council — the five nations with the most say over international law since the end of World War Two — except the US has yet committed to join.
Russia said late on Wednesday it was studying the proposal after Trump said it would join. France has declined. Britain said on Thursday it was not joining at present. China has not yet said whether it will join.
However, around 35 countries have committed to join including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkiye and Belarus.
The signing ceremony will be held in Davos, Switzerland, where the annual World Economic Forum bringing together global political and business leaders is taking place.
Sputtering Gaza ceasefire
The board’s charter will task it with promoting peace around the world, a copy seen by Reuters showed, and Trump has already named other senior US officials to join it, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The ceasefire in Gaza, agreed in October, has sputtered for months with Israel and Hamas trading blame for repeated bursts of violence in which several Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
Both sides accuse each other of further violations, with Israel saying Hamas has procrastinated on returning a final body of a dead hostage and Hamas saying Israel has continued to curb aid into Gaza despite an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Each side rejects the other’s accusations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation by Trump to join the board, the Israeli leader’s office says. Palestinian factions have endorsed Trump’s plan and given backing to a transitional Palestinian committee meant to administer the Gaza Strip with oversight by the board.
Trump has been characteristically bold in his comments on Gaza, saying the ceasefire amounts to “peace in the Middle East.”
Even as the first phase of the truce stumbles, its next stage must address much tougher long-term issues that have bedeviled earlier negotiations, including Hamas disarmament, security control in Gaza and eventual Israeli withdrawal.
On Wednesday in Davos, Trump met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, whose country played a major role in Gaza truce mediation talks, and they discussed the board.
Trump, who will chair the board, has invited dozens of other world leaders to join it and sees the grouping addressing other global challenges beyond Gaza, though he does not intend it as a replacement for the United Nations, he has said.
Some traditional US allies have balked at joining the board, which Trump says permanent members must help fund with a payment of $1 billion each, either responding cautiously or declining the invitation.
No other permanent member of the UN Security Council — the five nations with the most say over international law since the end of World War Two — except the US has yet committed to join.
Russia said late on Wednesday it was studying the proposal after Trump said it would join. France has declined. Britain said on Thursday it was not joining at present. China has not yet said whether it will join.
However, around 35 countries have committed to join including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkiye and Belarus.
The signing ceremony will be held in Davos, Switzerland, where the annual World Economic Forum bringing together global political and business leaders is taking place.
Sputtering Gaza ceasefire
The board’s charter will task it with promoting peace around the world, a copy seen by Reuters showed, and Trump has already named other senior US officials to join it, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The ceasefire in Gaza, agreed in October, has sputtered for months with Israel and Hamas trading blame for repeated bursts of violence in which several Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
Both sides accuse each other of further violations, with Israel saying Hamas has procrastinated on returning a final body of a dead hostage and Hamas saying Israel has continued to curb aid into Gaza despite an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Each side rejects the other’s accusations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation by Trump to join the board, the Israeli leader’s office says. Palestinian factions have endorsed Trump’s plan and given backing to a transitional Palestinian committee meant to administer the Gaza Strip with oversight by the board.
Trump has been characteristically bold in his comments on Gaza, saying the ceasefire amounts to “peace in the Middle East.”
Even as the first phase of the truce stumbles, its next stage must address much tougher long-term issues that have bedeviled earlier negotiations, including Hamas disarmament, security control in Gaza and eventual Israeli withdrawal.
On Wednesday in Davos, Trump met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, whose country played a major role in Gaza truce mediation talks, and they discussed the board.
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