Cybersecurity for the Agriculture sector

Our proprietary threat diagnostics system shows an increase in malicious activity targeting the agriculture sector in recent years. As the industry embraces data & innovation—integrating IoT devices, senors, and robotics to tackle global food challenges—the attack surface has expanded significantly. This rapid digitization has made the agriculture sector an attractive target for cyber espionage and information theft.

Compounding this risk, the agriculture sector operates on razor-thin profit margins and strict production timelines due to the perishability of fresh goods. This creates a fragile supply chain - one that ransomware operators readily exploit. The urgency of food production pressures organizations into rapid decision-making, making them more likely to pay ransoms to restore operations quickly.

Because of these factors, nation state actors and financially motivated cyber-criminals alike view organizations in the agriculture sector as high-value targets. If you operate in agriculture, the risks of cyber-attacks are escalating, especially if the appropriate defenses are not in place. 

Knowing the key APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) groups, their motivations, and origin countries provides a foundation for understanding the risks specific to agriculture. To get a more comprehensive understanding of the threat landscape, it is important to research, map, and document your adversaries’ intentions to their modus operandi, attack methods and attack tools, as this provides more actionable information for strengthening your defenses.