WASHINGTON (CN) — A pair of senators on Thursday unveiled new legislation that they say will bolster the agriculture industry’s resilience against the threat of cyberattacks.
The bipartisan measure, headed by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and backed by a laundry list of agricultural interest groups, is designed to help shield the U.S. supply chain from such technological meddling, lawmakers said.
“America’s adversaries are seeking to gain any advantage they can against us — including targeting critical industries like agriculture,” Cotton said in a statement. “This legislation will ensure we are prepared to protect the supply chains our farmers and all Americans rely on.”
Gillibrand said in a statement that the measure is “a crucial step toward preparing our nation’s agriculture sector to respond to potential cyberattacks.”
The legislation is also supported by a cadre of senators including Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, Alabama Senator Katie Britt and Wyoming Senator John Barrasso. A House-side version of the proposed legislation was also introduced Thursday, sponsored by Minnesota Representative Brad Finstad and Michigan Representative Elissa Slotkin.
If made law, the bill would instruct the Agriculture Department to conduct a twice-yearly study on cybersecurity threats to the agriculture industry. The review would include an analysis of existing threats; the potential impacts of a cyberattack on the safety and availability of food products; and the government’s ability to respond to an attack, among other things. And the agency would have to assess potential vulnerabilities in agricultural cybersecurity and respond accordingly.
The proposed legislation also mandates that the Agriculture Department conduct an interagency “cross-sector crisis simulation exercise” that mocks up a food-related national emergency. Each simulation, conducted annually over a five-year period, would involve “a realistic and plausible scenario” and include participants from federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments.
These exercises would help identify gaps in the government’s readiness to respond to such an emergency, according to the bill.
If passed, the measure would allocate $5 million in federal funds for the simulation exercises, or about $1 million annually from the 2024 to 2028 fiscal years.
The bill enjoys support from a cornucopia of agricultural trade organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Grain and Feed Association and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.
As of Thursday afternoon, the measure had yet to be assigned to a committee for debate.
Agriculture, one of the country’s pillars of critical infrastructure, accounts for roughly one-fifth of U.S. economic activity. The government has for years considered how to shield agriculture and the food supply chain from cyber threats.
Concerns about cyberattacks on the agriculture industry are far from empty. JBS, the world’s largest meat processing company which controls about a quarter of U.S. beef processing capacity, was hobbled in May 2021 by a ransomware attack likely originating in Russia.
A 2015 report from the Homeland Security Department, Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture concluded that cybersecurity training and up-to-date computer security programs can fend off most attacks.
However, the agencies pointed to the agriculture industry’s increased use of industrial control systems, which automate certain food production and processing operations, as an area of “vulnerability” that needed more study.
“As the [food and agriculture] sector becomes increasingly reliant on technology, the sector will continually revisit the issue of cybersecurity,” the report said.
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