By Ron Chen, Correspondent ASEAN Region

The news  on June 2 that a cyberattack has hit meat supplier JBS has got the analyst community jittery.

Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, Ramsey Baghdadi, offers his view: “This latest cyberattack demonstrates the larger issue of cybersecurity, a trend that is keeping CEOs in FMCG awake at night. As industry players increasingly adopt internet of things (IoT) and cloud technology in their supply chains, the risk of a company breach also increases as it exposes more opportunity for human error and inadvertent security holes.

“Not only does this lead to supply chain disruptions, but it can ultimately affect the choices of end consumers, as brand trust is pivotal in consumers purchasing decisions. Over half (57%) of consumers globally claim that their product choices are always or often influenced by how trustworthy it is, and data breaches, delays to shipments or halted production can compel consumers to look at alternative brands – particularly during sensitive times such as a pandemic. Therefore, businesses need to focus on cybersecurity investment in their future since the frequency of cyberattacks is increasing exponentially.

“Cybersecurity solutions providers are responding to the changing landscape and are continuously developing innovative solutions and technologies to keep up with cybercriminals’ advances. However, ransomware is difficult to combat. Last year, one of the biggest software suppliers was impacted by a ransomware attack and this year Colonial Pipeline and now JBS were attacked. Cyber-aware organizations must adopt cybersecurity measures that allow them to be resilient, vigilant and secure; that keep their employees and partners identified and trusted; and allow the organization to remain risk aware (eg. always back-up company data). In general, organizations fail to understand the landscape they are trying to defend. Consequently, defensive decisions aren’t taken, and actions are not prioritized, leaving enterprises open to compromise.”