Cybersecurity attack hits world's largest meat supplier JBS' IT systems in the US and Australia - USA TODAY
Cybersecurity attack hits world's largest meat supplier JBS' IT systems in the US and Australia - USA TODAY |
- Cybersecurity attack hits world's largest meat supplier JBS' IT systems in the US and Australia - USA TODAY
- 'It's the right thing to do': WHO renames COVID variants with Greek letter names to avoid confusion, stigma - USA TODAY
- Vaccines 2.0: Next-generation COVID-19 shots will be cheaper, easier to deliver and protect against more viruses, industry leaders say - USA TODAY
| Posted: 31 May 2021 03:41 PM PDT CLOSE  Prices at the gas pump are often based on these five factors, which are constantly in flux. USA TODAY JBS USA, the world's largest meat supplier, says it was the target of an "organized cybersecurity attack." In a statement, JBS, which has its U.S. headquarters in Greeley, Colorado, said the attack affected some of its servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems. "The company took immediate action, suspending all affected systems, notifying authorities and activating the company's global network of IT professionals and third-party experts to resolve the situation," the company said in its statement. "The company's backup servers were not affected, and it is actively working with an Incident Response firm to restore its systems as soon as possible." How consumers might be impacted by the attack was not immediately known Monday. Save better, spend better: Money tips and advice delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here Earlier in the month, a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, a key artery in the nation's energy infrastructure, temporarily disrupted the transportation of fuel in the Southeastern U.S. It triggered panic-buying of gasoline and led to gas shortages. JBS, which is a leading processor of beef, pork and other prepared foods in the U.S., said it "not aware of any evidence at this time that any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of the situation." Target fitting rooms: Target is reopening fitting rooms after keeping them closed more than a year amid COVID-19 Google Photos deadline day: Google Photos unlimited storage for photos and videos goes away starting Tuesday; accounts to have 15GB limit Bloomberg reported Monday that the JBS incident affected a Canadian beef plant in Brooks, Alberta, about 118 miles east of Calgary, according to a spokesperson for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401. JBS says it has 84 U.S. properties and the company owns facilities in 20 countries. "Resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers," JBS said. 'Nothing is safe'The one-two punch of the recent cyberattacks "shows that nothing is safe," said former senior Department of Homeland Security official Paul Rosenzweig. "Not the meatpacking industry, not the chemical industry, not the wastewater treatment industry, not Sony. Nothing." "And the only way to be safe in this world is to unplug completely. And you can't do that and be economically competitive," added Rosenzweig, a Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats senior fellow at the non-partisan R Street Institute public policy research organization in Washington, D.C. Rosenzweig said that the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, and the ransom paid by the company, has clearly emboldened non-state actors to strike at potentially bigger and more financially vulnerable targets, including JBS. "Until they actually pay consequences, they'll keep doing it," he said. "I mean, the Colonial guys got away with $50 million or whatever it was – not bad for a week's work. Who knows what the JBS guys might get away with?" "So long as the internet is a place of anonymity, the criminals will be able to act with impunity," Rosenzweig added. "And why would they stop?" Contributing: Josh Meyer and Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/05/31/jbs-cybersecurity-attack-top-meat-supplier/5285566001/  |
| Posted: 31 May 2021 03:17 PM PDT CLOSE Here's how mRNA viruses like COVID-19 mutate, and why certain viruses are harder to develop vaccines for. USA TODAY The World Health Organization has created a new system to name COVID-19 variants, getting away from place-based names that can be hard to pronounce, difficult to remember, and stigmatize a specific country. The new system, which was announced Monday, is based on the letters of the Greek alphabet. The United Kingdom variant, called by scientists B.1.1.7, will now be Alpha. B.1.351, the South Africa variant, will now be Beta and the B.1.617.2 variant discovered in India will now be known as Delta. When the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet are used up, WHO will announce another series. "It's the right thing to do," said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco. It may also make countries more open to reporting new variants if they're not afraid of being forever associated with them in the mind of the public. In a release. WHO said that while scientific names have advantages, they can be difficult to say and are prone to misreporting. "As a result, people often resort to calling variants by the places where they are detected, which is stigmatizing and discriminatory," WHO said. It's also often wrong. Where a disease or virus is first discovered isn't usually where it actually first emerged. Can employers require a COVID-19 vaccine: Federal agency says yes, and they can offer incentives, too Coronavirus pandemic: Colleges hope students get COVID-19 vaccines for fall semester – but can they require it? For example, the Spanish flu of 1918 is thought by some researchers to have actually first emerged in Haskell County, Kansas, or possibly in France. In the case of the variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, where they are first identified depends more on how good the genomic surveillance system is in the area where the virus is present, not where the mutation appeared, said Gandhi. The new WHO naming system was created in collaboration with experts and researchers who've been monitoring and assessing the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The established scientific nomenclature systems for tracking SARS-CoV-2 mutation will remain in use in the scientific community, WHO said. That includes the Pango system, from the Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak group, GISAID, the Global Initiative for Sharing All Influenza Data and NextStrain, a collaboration between researchers in Seattle and Basel, Switzerland. The new WHO names are meant to be easier to remember and more practical for non-scientific audiences, as the virus lineage names do not trip off the tongue. For example, the variant discovered in the United States in March of last year is known as the B.1.427 to scientists. Calling something "the South Africa variant" can make people fear anyone coming from South Africa, even when it's not clear the variant actually emerged there. Not all geographic names are stigmatizing, said Ajay Sethi, an epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Here in Wisconsin, we have Lacrosse encephalitis virus, but no one ever stigmatizes Lacrosse, Wisconsin. And Norovirus is originally from Norwalk, Ohio, but people aren't afraid of Ohio," he said. But for SARS-CoV-2, which has caused such global devastation, names can have serious consequences. "It's always a good idea to have a name that is just a name," he said. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/05/31/covid-variants-world-health-organization-greek-alphabet/5284698001/  |
| Posted: 31 May 2021 02:31 AM PDT This content is only available to USA TODAY subscribers. Subscribe for as low as $4.99 per month. Subscribe Now Your subscription includes access to: Exclusive, subscriber-only content and weekly email newsletter Our most popular newsletter, Daily Briefing, to keep you updated on the day's top stories Full access on your desktop, tablet and mobile device The eNewspaper, a digital replica of the print edition Original reporting that provides diverse perspectives on news and issues of today We know you have many choices and appreciate you investing in us and the future of journalism.  |
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