Sen. Cotton wants to crack down on cybersecurity threats to US agriculture

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., will introduce a invoice Thursday to strengthen cybersecurity defenses to counter cyberattacks towards vital meals construction sectors. 

The laws, known as the Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act, would improve safety for each authorities and personal entities towards cyber threats.

“America’s adversaries are seeking to gain any advantage they can against us – including targeting critical industries like agriculture,” Cotton stated in a press release. “Congress must work with the Department of Agriculture to identify and defeat these cybersecurity vulnerabilities.”

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Sen. Tom Cotton listens throughout a Senate Intelligence Committee listening to on July 12, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc through Getty Images)

He added, “This legislation will ensure we are prepared to protect the supply chains our farmers and all Americans rely on.” 

If handed, the invoice mandates biennial cybersecurity research on agriculture and meals sectors and reviews on findings to Congress. It additionally requires an annual cross-sector disaster simulation for food-related cyber emergencies, involving varied authorities businesses.

Co-sponsor of the invoice, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., stated in a press release that defending farms and meals safety towards cyberattacks “is a vital component of our national security.” 

The invoice already has help from a number of agricultural teams, together with the American Farm Bureau Federation, North American Millers Association, National Grain and Feed Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, USA Rice and Agricultural Retailers Association. 

Republican Rep. Brad Finstad of Minnesota and Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan will introduce companion laws within the House.

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Protecting farms and meals safety towards cyberattacks “is a vital component of our national security,” says invoice co-sponsor Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. (Cyberguy.com)

This month, the Aliquippa water authority in western Pennsylvania turned a sufferer of a world cyberattack, together with different U.S. water utilities, by what federal authorities stated have been Iranian-backed hackers focusing on a chunk of kit particularly as a result of it was Israeli-made.

The hazard, officers stated, is hackers gaining management of automated tools to shut down pumps that provide ingesting water or contaminate ingesting water by reprogramming automated chemical therapies. Besides Iran, different probably hostile geopolitical rivals, together with China, are considered by U.S. officers as a menace.

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Last yr, agricultural big Dole disclosed to federal regulators the impression of a ransomware assault, a kind of cuber assault that makes use of malware to lock a sufferer’s data till a ransom fee is made, which value the corporate $10.5 million. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.