In Wake of Beef Supplier Attack, Wittman Co-Signs Agriculture Intelligence Measures Act
Virginia | June 14, 2021
Congressman Rob Wittman (R-Virginia-01) was one of six Republicans last week who cosigned a bill that would create an Office of Intelligence in the Department of Agriculture. The bill was originally introduced by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Congressman Rick Crawford (R-Arkansas-02) last fall, but the current House version, HR 1625, has gradually gained Republican cosigners this spring.
“Two weeks ago, JBS, an international meat supplier, fell victim to a severe cyber attack,” Wittman explained in a Friday newsletter. “This marks the second attack targeting the production of American commodities, such as gasoline and food. This attack highlights the threat cyberattacks potentially pose to the American food supply chain.”
The bill text says the new Office of Intelligence will work with the intelligence community to keep the Secretary of Agriculture informed of foreign threats. Specifically, the office should focus on foreign efforts to steal agriculture technology, biological warfare attacks, cyber operations, and other sabotage or disruption of U.S. agriculture. The bill would transfer functions, assets, and personnel from an agriculture section of the Office of Homeland Security to the new office in the Department of Agriculture.
According to Bloomberg, JBS is based in Brazil, and in addition to closing facilities that provide almost a quarter of U.S.’ beef, the attack also forced shutdowns in Australia and Canada. The hackers targeted JBS computer networks in a ransomware attack. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the FBI was investigating the attack, which likely originated from a criminal group in Russia, according to CNBC.…
(Excerpts from the Virginia Star)