Cybersecurity for Food Security (CyFoo) - A Policy Brief for AgriTech

The livestock, dairy and arable farming communities are essential to the food security of the UK— accounting for 60% of all food consumed in the UK. New technology looks set to have a major impact on the way that farms operate. However, the adoption of these technologies also introduces potential new risks, not just to individual farms but to the wider food supply chain. The increased adoption of Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) devices within the farming sector represents one of the biggest cyber risks. These are the industrial equivalents of the smart-devices that are becoming more prevalent in our homes.

Here we highlight the cyber security risks that modern farming faces with a view to helping policy- makers, farmers and food producers improve the security of this sector together. The work in this report is derived from interviews and discussions with farmers and contractors, observations made during our research, as well as a technical analysis of a range of dairy sector IIOT equipment itself.