The farmers’ enemy who is invisible, silent – and expensive
Cyber criminals do not focus solely on companies and innocent individuals.
When you hear the word “cyberattack” it conjures up connotations of a lonely Nigerian Prince with a massive inheritance looking for a friendly bank account to deposit it into.
Sadly, for those of us single and in need of a cash boost, those days are long gone.
With Cyber SmartWeek running from October 10-16, it’s a good time to look at vulnerabilities on farms and how farmers can actively manage their own risks.
It’s also timely on a personal front - last month my mum’s credit card was hacked.
Thankfully, she was swiftly alerted when her cell began receiving security codes for charges she wasn’t generating.
The little devils were obviously hungry, horny and housebound, with their spending spree including $85 worth of KFC, $300 on a dating agency and over $300 on Uber.
A similar thing can happen to businesses called ‘invoice fraud’, a criminal distributes entirely fake invoices or swaps out the bank account number on a real invoice to their own.
That’s why it’s important to check invoice and account numbers carefully before making payments. Plus, if you’re paying someone new, it’s best to give them a call and go through the invoice to make sure everything’s correct.
Rural insurance company FMG has also heard from farmers and growers locked out of key business programmes, thanks to ransomwear attacks.
The name kind of gives it away - farmers are told they can’t regain access until they pay a ransom.
While it’s unclear how these particular incidents started, it’s likely someone opening a link in a phishing email, or a third party with access to the client’s computer software accidentally causing an infection which can be done by inadvertently downloading the wrong file or programme.
Fun fact: the same technology that makes farming easier, also makes it easier for criminals…and there is often no way to manually override the system.
When Speights was targeted this way, the beer momentarily stopped flowing in Dunedin. Naturally, this was three months into the pandemic – when many of us needed their products most.
So, imagine the disruption for example, that could be caused to a large herd, on an isolated farm, in the middle of mating.
In one case, the management team made an early call not to pay - instead engaging a specialist team to restore access as soon as possible.
While their entire shed had a factory reset, all the data for the cows (health, nutrition, milking details) needed to be restored from their last backup, which took 24 hours to complete anyway.
That’s why it’s important farmers ensure their security software is properly installed and up-to-date and fully look at links in emails before clicking on them – instead of just giving them a quick glance.
I’ll raise my hand here to say that’s something I’ve been guilty of sometimes, especially when I’m under the pump.
It’s also important to have up-to-date, reliable backups of data in case the worst happens – either offline, using external hard drives, and/or in the cloud.
Using two-factor authentication is another great layer of protection. As is not using the same password for everything - if you make it easy for yourself, you also make it easy for someone to attack you.
I hate trying to remember multiple passwords just as much the next person, so use a secure password manager instead. Mix it up a little. Remember, using a passphrase of 4 or more random words is much stronger than a random selection of letters and numbers.
A lot of this just goes to show the importance of having a comprehensive business continuity plan in place should disaster strike. It also proves the value of also having comprehensive cyber liability insurance. This covers the cost of urgently getting in specialists following an attack and the consequential financial loss.
However, it’s worth noting – cybersecurity insurance cover has a high bar to pass before you can get the policy put in place. This is why it is important to actively manage that risk well in the business.
These CERT NZ top 11 tips are a great place for most businesses and farmers to start. Visit the CERT NZ Cyber SmartWeek Page for four simple steps you can take today:
For more information check out FMG’s Cyber Security page fmg.co.nz/advice/cyber-security