JBS Paid An $11 Million Ransom To Cyberattackers

The meatpacking company JBS confirms it paid an $11 million ransom to hackers who targeted its U.S. and Australia operations.

David Zalubowski/AP

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David Zalubowski/AP

The meatpacking company JBS confirms it paid an $11 million ransom to hackers who targeted its U.S. and Australia operations.

David Zalubowski/AP

JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, confirms it paid a ransom of $11 million to cyberattackers.

CEO Andre Nogueira of JBA USA called it a “very difficult decision to make.”

“However, we felt this decision had to be made to prevent any potential risk for our customers.”

JBS is based in Brazil, but last week’s hack targeted servers in the U.S. and Australia.

The FBI says REvil, a Russian-speaking gang, was responsible.

It was one of a series of high-profile ransomware attacks, one of which focused on Colonial Pipeline and resulted in the company shutting down its operations in the Southeastern U.S. Word that distribution had stopped led to drivers panic-buying gasoline, draining one gas station after another in large parts of the South and the East Coast.

Colonial said later it had immediately informed the FBI and other authorities about the ransom demand, and also paid a ransom of $4.4 million.

Federal law enforcement announced this week that its new Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force had recovered more than half of the money paid by Colonial.