Increased digitalisation of the Australian agricultural sector is putting it at risk of major cyberattacks, warns the nation’s rural research body. The warning comes following a crippling ransomware attack that effectively paralysed the world’s largest meat producer, JBS’s operations in Australia and the United States. AgriFutures Australia, along with auditing firm BDO, released guidelines on July 5 outlining how agribusinesses can shore up their cybersecurity against future threats. According to a statement, the rural sector has seen an increase of agtech investment in recent years, with many producers now automating their farming operations and doing business via mobile phone or laptop. In the last five years, US$6.7 billion was invested in agtech, with over US$1.9 billion in the last 18 months. “The health sector saw the risk that came with the digitisation of records and moved to rapidly improve and standardise cyber security risks. This included allocating sufficient funds and …