Cybersecurity for Agriculture Webinar Recap

Yesterday we hosted an exciting webinar with a team of cyber experts that work with business leaders to reduce corporate risk.  In this exclusive webinar Eero Pikat, President of Barchart, Glenn Johnson, Principal Security Engineer and CEO of The Vizius Group, and David Hyde-Volpe, Principal Security Engineer and CTO of The Vizius Group gave viewers an in-depth look into Cybersecurity for Agriculture and how companies can protect themselves from cyber-attacks.  Don’t worry if you weren’t able to attend - we’ll fill you in now. 

Eero gave a brief introduction about Barcharts agriculture data and services.  He then handed it over to Glenn who gave an overview of The Vizius Group.  Vizius is a think tank of security professionals that keeps CEOs from being blindsided by cyber-attacks. 

Next, David switches gears and discusses the FBI guidance for cybersecurity in Agriculture.  According to the FBI, the number of cyber-attack cases that have been reported indicates that it’s a real threat to agribusinesses and their clients.  David discusses how bad passwords have been a large contributor to malware attacks.  Using the same password across platforms is not a good practice because if there is a breach with one of your accounts, the hacker will be able to access all accounts associated with that password. 

Glenn then provided some insight into what exactly ransomware is and how to prevent it.  According to Glenn, ransomware is a computer program that runs on your computer without your consent.  Glenn states “Ransomone is preventable.  And ransomware is something that can be prevented economically. 

Glenn then discusses the 5 steps you can do today to better protect your business.  These steps include: 

1. Having good backups

Having good backups is critical to protecting your business.  This includes testing your backups to verify that it’s operational.  You need to have the backups isolated so they can still be recovered if someone has encrypted all the systems of your network. 

2. Anti-Phishing training 

Anti-phishing training is one of the cheapest things you can do that has the greatest amount of impact.  

3. Good password hygiene 

A large number of comprises from this year were a result of reused passwords.  Using a password manager is good practice to protect your business. 

4. Shut the front door 

It’s common for companies to buy an external system they need for their business.  Defunct accounts that remain active on these systems can give hackers access to your passwords and business.  Having someone do a scan of all of the systems is critical in preventing malware attacks. 

5. Stop the malware 

Having next-generation virus protection is crucial to protecting your business.  The modern anti-malware solutions leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence.  

Eero then facilitated a Q&A which provided insights on the best practices for password backups, what to do if your company experiences a ransomware attack, and much more!  Watch the full livestream here! 

Interested in learning more about Cybersecurity in Agriculture?  The Vizius Group will be joining Barchart in Chicago this September to lead a Cybersecurity in Ag Panel at our Summer Ag Series. This exclusive event is a great opportunity to network with other industry professionals while exploring new tools to implement into your grain workflow.  To register for Barchart's free Summer Series, please visit barchart.com/summer2022.

To learn more about the data available from Barchart please visit our website. Sign up for product updates here to stay in the loop on upcoming webinars!