JBS systems coming back online after cyberattack

The world's largest meat processing company is getting back online after production around the world was disrupted by a cyberattack just weeks after a similar incident shut down a US oil pipeline.

Brazil's JBS SA said late on Tuesday that it had made "significant progress" in dealing with the cyberattack and expected the "vast majority" of its plants to be operating by on Wednesday.

"Our systems are coming back online and we are not sparing any resources to fight this threat," Andre Nogueira, CEO of JBS USA, said in a statement.

Earlier, the White House said JBS had notified the US of a ransom demand from a criminal organization likely based in Russia. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States contacted Russia's government and that the FBI was investigating.

Russia said on Wednesday it was open to considering any request from the US for help in investigating the cyberattack.

The closures reflect the reality that modern meat processing plants are heavily automated, for both food- and worker-safety reasons. Computers collect data at multiple stages of the production process, and orders, billing, shipping and other functions are all electronic.

JBS, which has not stated publicly that the attack was ransomware, said the cyberattack affected servers supporting its operations in North America and Australia. Backup servers weren't affected and it said it was not aware of any customer, supplier or employee data being compromised.

JBS plants in Australia resumed limited operations on Wednesday in New South Wales and Victoria states, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said. The company hoped to resume work in Queensland state on Thursday, he said.

JBS is the largest meat and food processing company in Australia, with 47 facilities including abattoirs, feedlots and meat processing sites.

It is the second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the US. The disruption quickly had an impact on Tuesday, industry analysts said. US meatpackers slaughtered 22 percent fewer cattle than a week earlier and 18 percent than a year earlier, according to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture.