$11 million ransom paid by JBS

The world’s largest meat processor suffered a ransomware attack in early June. JBS, a Brazilian-based company which provides nearly 20% of all beef in the USA, shut down most of its operations after the attack was discovered. Against FBI advice, JBS paid a ransom of almost $11 million. As is usual, JBS paid the ransom using Bitcoin. According to The Guardian, the ransom was paid in an attempt to minimise the disruption to supplies, as seen with the Colonial Pipeline attack. Operations were offline for one day before the ransom was paid, and the fee demonstrates the potential rewards for criminal gangs in targeting large companies.