World's biggest meat company JBS hit by cyberattack

A cyberattack on the world's largest meat company JBS has paralyzed large parts of production in North America and Australia.

JBS informed the US government of the attack on Sunday, a White House spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Brazilian firm JBS confirmed earlier via its US subsidiary that it was the target of an ransomware attack which hit servers on its IT systems in North America and Australia.

It would take some time to resolve the issues, JBS said. The firm did not initially give further details.

The US government said the hackers demanded a ransom. JBS informed the White House the demand came from a criminal organization that was likely based in Russia.

Washington has already communicated to the Russian government that a responsible state does not harbour perpetrators of such attacks, the White House said.

The FBI is involved and investigating.

Meat plants paralyzed

Five of the largest meat plants in the US had to shut down operations due to the attack, US media reported, citing unions and employees.

In Canada, one of JBS's largest plants also had to suspend operations, according to the reports.

In Australia, the group's production was also severely reduced, according to industry service Beef Central.

The holding company J&F Investimentos, to which JBS belongs, employs more than 250,000 people and is present in 190 countries.

A few weeks ago, a cyberattack on the largest gas pipeline in the US temporarily cut fuel supplies in the country.

The operator Colonial paid hackers a ransom of 4.4 million dollars.