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U.S. agriculture poised to become the next frontier in cybersecurity in the new year, experts and lawmakers say

U.S. agriculture poised to become the next frontier in cybersecurity in the new year, experts and lawmakers say

Cybersecurity has been a major talking point in recent years, with alleged Chinese spy balloons floating overhead, a major Appalachian oil pipeline hacked with ransomware and questions about mysterious drones in the skies over New Jersey.

But a neglected area of ​​interest in this regard it’s agricultureseveral prominent figures said — especially as America’s farm states are poised to lend their top political leaders to Washington in the new year.

Dakota State University President Jose-Marie Griffiths told Fox News Digital how geopolitically important the country’s heartland has become, with several Dakotans rising to leadership or cabinet positions over the course of the new year, including Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., chairing the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee. on cybersecurity.

“I have said a lot in the past and in (Congressional) testimony about my concerns about agriculture. and food production is essential infrastructure, which came quite late to the critical infrastructure table when it comes to cybersecurity,” Griffiths said.

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“People will start to realize that the agricultural vehicles they use are increasingly autonomous and connected to broadband (via) satellite – and other ways in which they become vulnerable. And for people who want to make us evil, they exploit vulnerabilities as much as they can.

People in the middle of the country are paying much more attention to the threats that China and other rivals pose to the U.S. agricultural sector, she said.

Thanks to technological advances, hackers can now break into the country’s harvesters, granaries and freight train network, Griffiths and Rounds said separately.

Whether cash crops are Pennsylvania potatoes, Florida oranges or Dakota wheat, all are crucial to the U.S. economy and supply chain, and all can be subject to cyber threats, Griffiths suggested.

Rounds told Fox News Digital that he has been studying the potential vulnerabilities of the American agricultural sector when it comes to foreign actors and cybersecurity.

“It’s not just about vehicles and so on,” he said.

“A lot of it depends on the infrastructure that we rely on. A good example is your water systems, your electrical systems… All of those are currently connected and all have cyber entry points.

“That’s why we’ve long been studying threats that could come from abroad and want to infiltrate not only water systems, but also electrical systems… and in some cases, sewage systems.”

Rounds said he and other lawmakers have focused on where bad actors can proverbially “shoot arrows at us,” and figure out who they are and how to stop them.

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He said Chinese company Huawei was selling cheap hardware to rural telecommunications entities and may be able to infiltrate communications systems.

“Once we discovered that it was there…that they could put latent materials in there that could be activated later, we had most of them removed. But that’s just one example of the how rural areas can be a gateway to the rest of our communications systems,” he said.

Rounds said drones are increasingly used in agriculture and are also at risk of being hacked.

Vehicles like harvesters and tractors have also advanced significantly technologically in the short term and face similar challenges.

“A lot of this is done with GPS right now. You get in your tractor, you plug it in and it basically drives it for you. We let people in these tractors, but at some point in the game, some d “They could very well become self-sustaining as well – and they are subject to cyber-interventions…” he said.

Grain silos can also be disrupted, blocking marketing and transportation and endangering the entire supply chain and a farmer’s ability to sell on the open market, Rounds said.

When asked if he prefers today’s agricultural sector to the days before automation, Rounds said it’s not a matter of what he thinks, but what that was going to happen in the future.

“We will use more and more autonomous vehicles in agriculture. And the reason is we don’t have the labor – and we’re replacing it with machines. The machines are going to get bigger. They’re going to become more sophisticated, and we’re going to be expected to do more things with fewer people operating them, he said.

“The supply chain is extremely critical. In many cases we rely on self-reliance for a lot of the delivery of our resources, both to the farmer, but also behind the farmer in terms of the product he wants to market.”

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Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Pete Hegseth

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., left, meets with Pete Hegseth. (PA)

If this new, technologically advanced system fails or is hacked, it will significantly disrupt the ability to provide raw materials to the people and companies that actually “make the bread,” etc.

Amit Yoran, CEO of risk management company Tenable, recently testified before the House Homeland Security Committee and spoke at length about cyber threats to America’s critical infrastructure.

Asked about cybersecurity In agriculture, Yoran recently told Fox News Digital that there is “no single defense paradigm that could be applied effectively across all sectors.”

“Some critical infrastructure providers have a high degree of cybersecurity preparedness, strong risk understanding and management practices, and very strong security programs. Others are woefully underprepared,” Yoran said , whose company is based in Howard County, Maryland.