JBS confirms $11 million ransom payment after cyberattack

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JBS confirms $11 million ransom payment after cyberattack

JBS USA, the world’s largest meat processor, has confirmed it paid the equivalent of $11 million in ransom in response to the cybersecurity attack that shut down its operations last week.

In a statement, JBS said at the time of payment the vast majority of its facilities were operational.  In consultation with internal IT professionals and third-party cybersecurity experts, the company made the decision to mitigate any unforeseen issues related to the attack and ensure no data was exfiltrated.

Andre Nogueira, JBS USA CEO says they decided to make the payment to prevent any potential risk for their customers.

JBS says the company spends more than $200 million annually on IT and employs more than 850 IT professionals globally. The company says third-party forensic investigations are still ongoing, and no final determinations have been made.  And preliminary investigation results confirm that no company, customer, or employee data was compromised.  

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