There are more than 250 different bad actors around the world trying to wreak havoc on the business world via cyberattacks.

Ransomware, phishing attacks and other cyber tools can shut down businesses’ entire operations.

And when your business is the production, delivery and sale of perishable foods, those shutdowns can be catastrophic.

A new partnership between FMI – The Food Industry Association, Food and Ag Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) and two other industry associations will significantly help grocers, their suppliers and other along the food chain prevent and react to cyber criminals.

FMI, the National Grain and Feed Association, and SNAC International say the collaboration will enable increased collaboration between the ISAC and the larger food and agriculture industry and help organizations and companies share critical threat intelligence throughout the sector.

“The ISAC can share info with us that’s relevant and actionable — valuable, real time insights — and we can provide that to our members,” said Doug Baker, FMI’s vice president of industry relations. “When they’re seeing an attack on one side of supply chain, they can share information more broadly, helping retailers become aware of something that might expand.”

The ISAC will provide weekly threat reports to the association partners and their members as part of the partnership, Baker said. In addition, the ISAC will provide threat briefings and cybersecurity thought leadership to the groups. 

Taken together, he said, these tools will enable more companies in the industry to understand better threats facing the industry and actions that can be taken to mitigate them.

In April, the ISAC released its first ransomware report, which revealed that the food and ag sector was the 7th most targeted industry for ransomware attacks in 2023.

“Ensuring the resilience and safety of our members’ supply chains is a top priority for FMI,” said Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of FMI. “Partnering with the Food & Ag ISAC allows us to leverage the benefit of information sharing to ensure early detection and coordinated response while contributing our industry’s expertise. Together, we can implement stronger cybersecurity protocols to protect consumers and the entire food system.”

The partnership could be especially helpful, Baker said, to smaller grocers who don’t have the “cyber maturity”  or other resources of larger stores.

“This becomes extremely helpful to small and mid-sized chains. It can shorten their learning curves, and get them into remediation and prevention more quickly.”

This article is an excerpt from the September 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Technology Education feature and more in the digital edition here.