We have a beef about lockdown, but we nearly had a much bigger beef about beef!
This is a lockdown free newsletter this week. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of talking about it!
But what we do need to talk about is IT security and how it’s becoming a real problem, not only for big business but small business as well.
A few weeks ago a Russian consortium hacked the Colonial pipeline and were paid ransom funds of around $5 million in Bitcoin.
More recently Australia’s largest meat producer, JBS Group, which has extensive operations in Brazil and the USA alongside Australia, was attacked.
The attack knocked out their global operations, sparking concerns of a supply shortage here and overseas, or a price spike.
But more importantly, it highlights how short the chain is between a single big business and an entire country’s food security.
Given the scale and potential impact of the attack, the FBI is investigating, with early indications suggesting the attack came out of Russia.
I find all of this fascinating and had a really interesting chat about it on last night’s Money News.
But from a day-to-day perspective, cybersecurity now needs to be part of the conversation for all businesses, big and small.
From engaging with ethical hackers to considering cyber insurance, with so much more of our economy shifting online thanks to the pandemic, this is going to be the new norm. Best we all get educated!
