Attacks cause a variety of shockwaves---specifically, from disease.

Although beneficial, the agriculture industry’s digital revolution comes with consequences. According to a 2018 Department of Homeland Security report, “The adoption of advanced precision agriculture technology and farm information management systems in the crop and livestock sectors is introducing new vulnerabilities into an industry which had previously been highly mechanical in nature.”17 The associated risks these technologies pose to the agriculture sector increase the exposure to cyber and other related threats and vulnerabilities.18 The report sheds light on some risks to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

One of the confidentiality concerns is that major unmanned aircraft system “equipment manufacturers in the precision agricultural market are dominated by foreign built systems,” allowing foreign governments unfettered access to collected sensor data.19 Chinese manufacturer DJI is one example. Nathan Ord discusses the national security risks of foreign companies infusing IoT technologies into American companies and infrastructure.20 Ord explains Chinese IoT cellular modules allow for remote data exploitation and the possibility of remotely terminating connected devices. To illustrate this point, in 2022, Russian troops overran a John Deere dealership in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol, Ukraine, stealing 27 pieces of farm machinery worth $5 million.21 The dealership was forced to access the stolen devices and disable them remotely, turning them into paperweights.

Threats to the integrity of agriculture sector data pose unique concerns. The intentional falsification of data through compromised information management systems and applications can have devastating effects on crops or livestock. For instance, animal diseases can wipe out herds or flocks, resulting in an immense economic toll and cascading consequences for food supplies. The Department of Homeland Security’s 2018 research argues malicious actors’ falsification of data to disrupt the agriculture industry is the highest-impact threat under the integrity standard.22 Data falsification could have costly ramifications if false data is publicly released during an outbreak like the bird flu outbreak. 39Parrott Incorrect information can result in increased response times and significantly delay efforts to rectify and resolve data discrepancies.

Agricultural operations ranging from farming to livestock heavily depend on equipment availability, which is extremely important for every crop sector because of the limited time windows for planting and harvesting. Equipment availability is critical during these times. For example, malevolent cyber actors could disrupt an entire fleet of unmanned agricultural devices, resulting in crops being ruined, or such actors could disable a poultry farm’s climate-smart systems, resulting in unhealthy living conditions capable of spreading disease or causing death. In April 2023, Japan had to cull more than 17 million chickens due to a bird-flu outbreak, resulting in global price increases reaching historic high levels in the first quarter of 2023.23 Despite this travesty having resulted from natural causes, the economic impacts and downstream consequences are still being felt today. The implications of a cyberterrorist-enabled attack of this magnitude would send shockwaves across the world.