Meat supplier JBS USA has confirmed that it paid the equivalent of US$11 million (AU$14.2 million) in ransom in response to the cyber attack that has impacted its North American and Australian operations.
At the time of the payment, the vast majority of the company’s facilities were operational.
JBS paid the ransom in bitcoin.
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The company said it consulted with internal IT professionals and third-party cybersecurity experts and have decided to mitigate any unforeseen issues related to the attack and ensure no data was exfiltrated.
“This was a very difficult decision to make for our company and for me personally,” said Andre Nogueira, CEO of JBS USA, in a statement.
“However, we felt this decision had to be made to prevent any potential risk for our customers,” he said.
Russian-based criminal gang known as REvil, or Sodinokibi, is believed to be behind the ransomware attack on JBS. The FBI stated this is one of the most specialised and sophisticated cybercriminal groups in the world.
JBS USA has maintained constant communications with government officials throughout the incident. Third-party forensic investigations are still ongoing, and no final determinations have been made.
The company said that preliminary investigation results confirm that no company, customer or employee data was compromised.