Cyber attack paralyzes world top meat suppliers factories, JBS, and the global supply could suffer for weeks - JBS, one of the world's largest meat suppliers, has had to shut down its plants in the United States, Canada and Australia due to a computer attack.

Although not much information has emerged about the type of incident that has affected the company, this is a new example where a cyber attack disrupts a firm's operations. A few weeks ago Colonial had to stop the operation of one of the largest oil pipelines in the United States on account of a ransomware attack.

The JBS plants affected are pork and beef processing plants, which had to stop their activity between Monday and Tuesday of this week, according to Engadget. No group is known to have claimed responsibility for the attack, nor is it known when plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado or Alberta will be able to resume operations.

The US division of JBS has assured that the backups of the affected servers have not been affected, and that they are already working with a specialized company in response to incidents of this style to "restore systems as soon as possible".

In addition, the company argues that "it does not have at the moment any proof that the data of customers, suppliers or employees have been compromised".

Cyber attack paralyzes world top meat suppliers factories

To understand the dimensions of the incident, Engadget recalls that JBS is the company responsible for 25% of meat processing in the US, and 20% in Australia. In the oceanic country alone, the firm has 47 plants and 11,000 workers. A senior Australian government official has noted that the company's recovery there could take several days.

The incident could cause problems in the supply of meat worldwide, as the meat sector is, contrary to what may appear, an industry with very little margin for error. 80% of beef slaughterhouses in the US are controlled by 4 companies. 70% of pig slaughterhouses in the same country are controlled by the same number of companies.

Bloomberg points out that droughts and grain supply problems, and I think they occurred 10 years ago, caused meat prices to skyrocket and profits to fall sharply, which led to many companies leaving the sector. As a result, there has been a concentration in very few companies.

Cyber attack paralyzes world top meat suppliers factories

In addition, large suppliers such as JBS itself or Tyson Foods have explored new markets in Europe to continue consolidating before the boom in demand. But first a fire in August 2019 at a Tyson Foods plant in Kansas, which caused beef prices to skyrocket again, and then closures in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, have destabilized the sector.

This cyberattack could be the mark on an industry in which the farmers themselves are demanding more transparency in the purchases of their cattle from multinationals such as JBS, as inequality increases. Who without a doubt could see how their profits increase are none other, this time, than the cybercriminals involved in this computer attack.

Cyber attack paralyzes world top meat suppliers factories

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The deadline to exchange pesetas to euros ends this month: these are the notes and coins that you can exchange at the Banco de España until June 30

On 1 January 2002, the euro entered circulation in Spain, thus displacing the mythical peseta. However, there are many who still keep coins or notes of this old coin at home, either for collecting or to preserve a memory of another era.

But in the event that you have pesetas at home and want to exchange them for euros you should know that the deadline expires this month: June 30 is the last day that the Bank of Spain allows to carry out this type of operations.

After June 30, all pesetas remaining in Spain will be considered collectibles and will have no value beyond this type of market.

This deadline is an extension decreed by the Government. Initially the deadline was to be December 31, 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it was extended. There will be no more changes to the calendar, so if you want to redeem your pesetas you have to hurry.

The process of exchanging pesetas to euros is simple. You have to make an appointment with the Bank of Spain. You can do it at the headquarters of Madrid (located at Calle Alcalá, 48) or at any of the 15 branches that they have spread across several Spanish cities.

Do not forget to bring your ID, passport or residence card: the Bank of Spain will ask you to identify yourself if you are going to change an amount from 1,000 euros, although they could ask for your identification for a minor operation if they deem it necessary.

Not all peseta coins and banknotes can be exchanged for euros. Valid tickets are those issued after 1939. The coins allowed for exchange are all those that were in circulation on 1 January 2002.

If you have a previous banknote or a collector's coin, the Banco de España will have to carry out a previous analysis. The exchange rate of one euro always remains at 166,386 pesetas.

In this publication of the Banco de España you can check the exchangeable coins, and in this one you can check the banknotes that you can exchange.