Let’s talk about crime. What is the fastest growing crime in America these days? If you guessed cybercrime, you’d be right. With over 16.7 million victims of identity theft each year, it is imperative that farmers protect themselves and the others they work with, or potentially become just another statistic we hear about on the news.
“AGROTERRORISM” anyone? The fact that there’s a special term for hackers, malware, ransomware, and other cyber threats facing farmers these days is enough to turn a “it’ll never happen to ME” person into a believer. But what causes a farmer to be threatened most? Precision Agriculture.
Precision Agriculture was brought to life in the 1990’s, and has since seen significant growth. What started with GPS for tractors, has since blossomed into computer-based mapping, drone use, and variable-rate applications, among others. Do you recall when your cell phone was primarily used to make phone calls? I sure do! Now your phone is used to manage your farm and adjusting inputs in real-time to reap the optimal yields. Hackers LOVE precision agriculture.
Why am I more susceptible to a breach now than before?
In the early 1900’s, roughly 80% of America’s population was involved in some form of agriculture. Fast forward to 2022, and only about 2% remain—the landscape looks quite a bit different now, huh? Because of the fact that more people have left the agricultural field (no pun intended), farmers these days are forced to rely more heavily on technology to manage the farm as efficiently and accurately as they can.
The use of technology however, increases the threat of a cyber breach. Below are just several means of Precision Agriculture that can make a farmer vulnerable to a cyber-attack:
- GNSS (or GPS)
- Mobile Devices
- Wireless sensors
- Internet of Things
- Variable-Rate Application
- Weather Modeling
- Nitrogen Modeling
- Drones
- Autonomous Machinery
- Computer-Based Applications
Is this an all-inclusive list of the areas a farmer can be attacked? No, it isn’t. What it is, however, is a short list that should make you think to yourself, am I exposed?
If you are using any of the aforementioned methods as a means to improve your efficiency and manage yields, ask yourself how you would handle being the next New Cooperative. You need not find yourself in a terrible situation all alone, instead, call Mike “The Farm Guy” Lombardi at Richey-Barrett Insurance, and after analysis, we can pair you with the correct cyber coverage for your particular needs.
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