We never imagined we’d have to worry about someone tampering with our food supply to harm us, then 9/11 happened. This presentation will begin with an introduction to food defense—the protection of our food supply from acts of intentional contamination. We can protect ourselves from some threats by avoiding them (flying, for example), but everyone has to eat, making this threat especially pernicious. The general landscape of threats to the food system and global food defense efforts will be highlighted.

The second part of this session will focus on the specific risks from cyber attacks on food processing and manufacturing systems. Based on research conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Food Protection and Defense Institute, this presentation will demonstrate that the threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences known to affect industrial control systems in other industries affect those in food and agriculture just as much, if not more so. The cyber risks to these systems will be discussed as well as steps companies can take to mitigate them.