Agriculture and cybersecurity may seem like unrelated fields, but a recent incident in Switzerland shows that cyber threats can affect (almost) every aspect of modern life. A dairy farmer who used an automated milking system lost access to his cows' vital data after hackers encrypted his files and demanded a ransom. The lack of information resulted in a fatal complication for a pregnant cow and her calf.

• Ransomware attack
  The farmer relied on an automated system that could not only milk his cows, but also monitor their health status and send the data to his computer. This way, he could quickly detect and respond to any changes in his animals' condition. However, cybercriminals managed to lock his files through an unknown ransomware, preventing him from accessing the latest data of his cows. The attackers then demanded 10,000 USD to decrypt his files.
   
• Cow sadly dies
  The farmer was able to restore some of the data from previous years, thanks to an old backup, but he lost the most recent and current information. Among other things, he did not know the exact insemination dates of his cows. This caused a serious problem for a pregnant cow, whose calf died in utero. The farmer did not notice this emergency in time, due to the malfunctioning system. Although he removed the dead calf from the cow by a medical intervention, he had to euthanize the cow. The farmer stated that this would not have happened if he had known the precise insemination date.

Take away: The ransomware attack cost the farmer 6,000 francs in veterinary costs and new technical equipment. The case shows that cybersecurity is also a relevant issue for agriculture – beyond the trends of smart farming and big food tech companies. In particular, the agricultural sector often lacks sufficient knowledge and awareness of the risks and challenges of dealing with cyber threats. Aside from new EU cybersecurity regulations such as the NIS2 Directive or the Cyber Resilience Act, business owners should consider appropriate cybersecurity measures. The cow's death could have been avoided with relatively simple security measures, such as regular encrypted backups on external hard drives.