US agricultural machinery maker AGCO hit by ransomware attack

May 06, AGCO announced that they suffered a ransomware attack yesterday that has impacted some of the company's production facilities.

While AGCO does not provide any details as to what is causing the disruption, the company likely shut down portions of its IT systems to prevent the attack's spread.

"AGCO is still investigating the extent of the attack, but it is anticipated that its business operations will be adversely affected for several days and potentially longer to fully resume all services depending upon how quickly the Company is able to repair its systems. The Company will provide updates as the situation progresses." - AGCO.

As the press release explains, the investigation is still underway, and the impact of this cyberattack is expected to last for a substantial period while they restore systems.

AGCO is a giant in the field, having a revenue of over $9 billion, employing 21,000 people, and owning brands like Fendt, Massey Ferguson, Challenger, Gleaner, and Valtra.

As such, any production disruption caused by the ransomware attack could have a significant supply chain impact on the production and delivery of equipment.

The agriculture sector increasingly targeted

The FBI recently warned that ransomware attacks were targeting the agriculture sector in the United States, highlighting two notable cases in 2022.

The agency had issued a similar notice in September 2021, followed by high-impact ransomware attacks against two large farmer cooperatives, NEW Cooperative and Crystal Valley.

All entities directly linked to national food production and supply are considered critical infrastructure and are targeted for massive profits. 

In the current situation, given the political tensions, this cyberattack could have retaliatory motives, aiming to disrupt the firm's production.

Only May 05, AGCO announced the donation of money and seeds to farmers in the war-affected areas in Ukraine, so the scenario of Russian hacktivists targeting it for this stance isn't unlikely.