About 160 UPA workers cannot connect with its community, however there isn’t a speedy influence for farmers, the group says.
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LONGUEUIL — The Union des producteurs agricoles, Quebec’s farming affiliation, has been the goal of a ransomware cyberattack since Sunday affecting all its laptop programs.
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In an interview, UPA normal supervisor Charles-Félix Ross referred to as it a “main cyberattack.”
“It’s the standard modus operandi,” he stated. The hackers “managed to interrupt in, get into our laptop system and paralyzed the community. They’re demanding a ransom in change for a decryption key.”
About 160 UPA workers can’t connect with the community, whether or not from the Longueuil places of work or remotely, and 23 UPA shopper organizations are additionally affected, just like the union of grain producers. Different bigger organizations just like the milk and pork producers union have their very own info know-how programs and aren’t affected, Ross stated.
He added that there isn’t a influence for farm producers within the brief time period.
Cybersecurity consultants had been employed by UPA to work with their IT groups to safe the community and examine. They’re making an attempt to find out the extent of the injury.
Although the UPA has not been the sufferer of this type of cyberattack earlier than, “we’re all the time defending ourselves,” he stated. “However it’s an epidemic. It takes worldwide intervention. Governments must discuss to one another and put in place a police power for the online.”
Earlier Tuesday, Bombardier Leisure Merchandise (BRP), based mostly in Valcourt, additionally introduced it was the goal of a cyberattack.
The UPA represents about 42,000 farmers and forestry employees in Quebec.