Global Food Supply Chain at Risk from Malicious Hackers

Experts warn that modern "smart" farm gear is vulnerable to hostile hackers, putting global supply lines at risk. Hackers may be able to take advantage of weaknesses in agricultural technology used to sow and harvest crops. John Deere, the agricultural manufacturing behemoth, said it is immediately working to rectify any software flaws. Automatic crop sprayers, drones, and robotic harvesters, according to a new University of Cambridge paper, might all be hacked.

Cyber-attacks are becoming more dangerous, according to the UK government and the FBI. Customers, machinery, and data are all "top priorities," according to John Deere. Smart technology is rapidly being employed to make farms more efficient and productive; for example, the labor-intensive harvesting of delicate food crops like asparagus has hitherto been out of reach of machines.

Artificial Intelligence is used in the latest generation of Agricultural Robots to reduce human participation. They may help to fill a labour shortfall or enhance yield, but there is growing worried about the inherent security risk, adding to concerns about food supply lines already jeopardised by the Ukraine and Covid wars.

"There is a real risk that individuals anywhere in the world may try and take control of these machines," said Chris Chavasse, co-founder of Muddy Machines, which is testing an autonomous asparagus-harvesting robot named Sprout. "either to get them to do whatever those people want or to stop them from operating."