Emboldened Russian Criminals Hit Another US-Linked Business with a Cyberattack
President Joe Biden’s weak leadership is emboldening America’s foreign rivals on multiple fronts, as evidenced by Iran’s escalating saber-rattling, communist China’s hostile rhetoric, the daily border sieges and the increased cyberattacks that endanger the U.S. economy and national security.
In the latest salvo, the Brazilian corporation JBS — the world’s largest meatpacker — notified the Biden administration on Sunday that it was the victim of a ransomware attack from a “criminal organization likely based in Russia.”
The hack affected JBS’ North American and Australian IT systems.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this cyberattack will probably result in increased beef prices for Americans, who are already suffering from high inflation under Biden. Among the JBS facilities affected are those in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Nebraska and Texas.
It comes just weeks after Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States, paid $4.4 million to hackers who had broken into its computer systems.
That hack fueled meteoric spikes in gas prices around the country.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House’s deputy press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday that the Biden administration is “engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals.”
Jean-Pierre then spouted platitudes without saying if anything is actually being done to curb future cyberattacks.
She said the FBI is investigating the incident, which probably means nothing will come of it, since the FBI was unable to do anything about the Colonial Pipeline hack and couldn’t prevent the company from being forced to pay $4.4 million in ransom.
“Combating ransomware is a priority for the administration,” Jean-Pierre said. “President Biden has already launched a rapid strategic review to address the increased threat of ransomware.”
In other words, Biden apparently has not confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin about curbing future cyberattacks by Russian hackers.
JBS beef plants in eight states have been shut down due to the cyberattack, halting 22 percent of beef production in the United States, according to CNBC’s Eamon Javers.
How bad is the JBS meat processing plant hack today? A UFCW union official tells me tonight:
– The JBS cyberattack has impacted all of the company’s U.S. meatpacking facilities.
– All of the JBS fed beef plants are shut down
– All of the JBS regional beef plants are shut down— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) June 1, 2021
What does that mean for the nation’s food supply? The USDA released daily livestock slaughter numbers this afternoon showing a 22 percent decline in cattle today and a 19.6 percent decline in hogs processed versus a week ago.
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) June 1, 2021
When a reporter asked Jean-Pierre if Biden was considering canceling his June 16 summit with Putin in Switzerland, she said absolutely not.
Keep in mind that during Donald Trump’s entire presidency, Democrats and their media lapdogs hyperventilated whenever Trump and Putin were mildly cordial with each other and screeched about the debunked Russia collusion hoax.
This endless demonization of both Trump and Putin prevented them from holding substantive talks that could have benefited the United States, Russia and the rest of the world.
Jean-Pierre said Biden will meet with Putin on June 16 “because of our country’s differences, not in spite of them. There’s a lot we have to work through.”
She added that “there is no substitute” for face-to-face discussions between world leaders “to be clear about where we are, to understand where he is, to try to manage differences and to identify areas where we can make progress.”
Reminder: These are the same talking points that left-wing conspiracy theorists cavalierly dismissed when Trump wanted to sit down and meet with Putin to discuss important world issues.
Few people believe Biden can handle Putin because the shrewd Russian leader has already played the doddering Democrat for a fool.
Biden had the opportunity to put a wrench in Putin’s plan to kill Europe’s energy independence and enforce #NordStream2 sanctions.
Instead, he caved to Russia and waived these sanctions on Putin’s behalf. pic.twitter.com/RPbKU3uGPe
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 26, 2021
As it is, it doesn’t matter if Biden gets outmaneuvered by Putin, Iran, China, Mexico or any other foreign adversary because Democrats put America last anyway.
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