Clemson Cybersecurity Researcher Warns Hackers Not Only In It For The Money

Clemson University cybersecurity researcher Paris Stringfellow says the objectives of some hackers may not be only for money. They may be seeking to “quietly modify your product quality, to hurt your reputation, or they might even want to steal your Intellectual property.”

In an Agri-Pulse interview, Stringfellow said, ” The food and ag industry, as an essential sector of the economy and society, is especially vulnerable, experts say. And the push toward more transparent supply chains can enhance that risk.”

“Some of the biggest kind of vulnerabilities come from the connectivity of [companies’] supply chains, and that’s only growing,” she said, as people seek to know where their products are sourced. “And that requires supply chains to be transparent and to share data, which, if left unprotected, begins to exponentially open us up to vulnerability.” Smaller companies may not feel concerned about becoming targets, but they should be, Stringfellow said. “We find that the small- to medium-sized manufacturers, they’re the ones where we really notice a lack of urgency.”

Attacks “can come from anywhere,” Stringfellow says. “They can come from insider threats” — people who work within the company or have a connection to someone there. There also are companies that are purely in the business of committing cybercrime — “they call it ransomware as a service,” she says.

“The threat is real and it’s growing,” she says. “And every day you buy a new web application to help you manage your inventory or buy a new smart tractor, add a new component to your system, you are increasing your threat landscape,” Stringfellow said.