Danish Agro dealing with aftermath of ransomware attack

By Jane Byrne

- Last updated on GMT

© GettyImages/spyarm
© GettyImages/spyarm

Related tags hacked ransomware

Danish Agro says it is still in the process of building up its systems again, following the recent hacking incident.

The Denmark based agribusiness group was the target of a ransomware attack on April 19.

“The hackers are kicked out of our systems and we are not in dialogue with them nor have we paid any ransom,”​ Søren Møgelvang Nielsen, communication director, Danish Agro, told FeedNavigator.

A section of the group’s IT environment was affected by the hacking event, it reported last month.

Immediately following the ransomware attack, the agribusiness group announced that it was managing to have its feed factories, ordering and logistics up and running subsequent to the incident with the help of IT systems that were not hit, some workarounds and manual processes.

All customers were encouraged to contact the company via telephone or email while work was carried out to restore the company’s IT systems.

The Danish Agro Group is owned by 9,000 Danish farmers.

Exploiting crises

Cybercriminals, both as individuals and groups, will look to exploit the opportunities created by states of emergency, said Andy Barratt, UK managing director of cyber security consultancy, Coalfire, in a piece​ on Architects’ Journal​.

He said there has been a blitz of new scams targeting consumers and businesses alike since the outbreak of COVID-19, particularly as firms have been tasked with quickly mobilizing remote working for their employees.

More than 2,000 new scams relating to the virus have been shut down by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre since the UK went into lockdown, noted Barratt.

“Prior to Covid-19, we conducted a study that indicated that people remain one of the most prevalent security risks to businesses across the economy. With the majority of the UK working from home and IT teams focused on supporting the introduction of new communication tools, the likelihood of employees unwittingly helping cybercriminals to access their systems will have only increased.”

 

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