Digital agriculture could byte the hand it feeds

An international team of researchers has warned that relying on digital tools for agriculture without buttressing these technologies against cyber attacks could be a recipe for disaster.

Researchers from King Abdulaziz University, Aix-Marseille University and Flinders University have performed complex IT and mathematical modelling to assess the vulnerabilities that face modern tools used in agriculture.

The world is on track to reach a population of over 10 billion people by the turn of the next century so having the tools to produce the appropriate amount of food for these people is inherently causing farmers and food processors to turn to automated and connection-oriented concepts.

Various automated systems and smart sensors that monitor crops, moisture and disease are useful for producing food in an automated way. These internet-connected and low-power devices have made it possible to reduce the reliance on manual labour and shifted certain functions to the digital world. The result is the possibility of producing more food with less effort.

However, if these systems are left undefended against cyber attacks, they may be vulnerable to hackers shutting them down and halting the important production of food. Organisations in other sectors such as corporate and defence protect against these attacks but food companies may need to catch up, the researchers warn. Food producers may be at risk of being held for ransom, having sensitive and important data stolen or seeing whole farming operations shut down by hackers.

The researchers point to instances of cyber attacks against food processors such as alcohol company Lion being hacked in 2020 or meat processor JBS having to pay a $14 million ransom to unlock its hacked systems in 2021.

A range of precautions and protections is suggested by the researchers, such as threat analysis, adequate training and adoption of privacy-preservation schemes. Generally, a full consideration of the security implications of using digital technologies not entirely designed for food production is recommended.

The paper was published in the journal Sensors.

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