JBS cyberattack sparks fears of meat price increases

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – First with gas, and now with food.

With the cyberattack against major meat producer, JBS USA, suppliers
are warning shoppers to brace themselves for an increase in prices.

“With those plants that they have offline, by the time it goes through
the distribution channel you’ll start feeling those effects in, say,
seven to ten days,” says Donnie Rains, the owner of Don’s Meat Shop in Hixson.

Rains says that prices were already sky-high due to the pandemic’s impact on the economy. Now, he fears the cyberattack will make the situation worse.

“I’ve never seen so many protein complexes this high at the same time.
Beef, pork, poultry. It’s incredible.”

At the Conversant Group, President John Anthony Smith says that small
businesses in Chattanooga are also vulnerable to cyber attacks, and
that business owners need to wise up.

“This is something that is becoming very common, it is not going away.
We can expect this to stay for the foreseeable future, and frankly
until Corporate America catches up to the attackers and their methods
– or at least catches up and hopefully outpaces them – it’s just going
to continue. Frankly, it’s going to get worse,” says Smith.

And if you’re a business owner that finds yourself falling victim to a
cyber attack, Smith says not to hesitate to hire professional help.

“Do not negotiate with the threat actors. Hire professionals that do
this every day, because you can actually greatly limit and even
frankly possibly break the law in negotiating with threat actors. You
need professional help,” he says.