Dairy Association Partners with Federal Cybersecurity Group to Bolster Defense Efforts

Sept. 18, 2023

IDFA members can stay up to speed on new threats and cyber defense best practices through partnership with Food and Ag-ISAC community.

Andy Hanacek

Dairy industry companies have a new partnership to look toward to boost their efforts to keep cyber criminals at bay, as the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) is partnering with the Food and Agriculture – Information Sharing Analysis Center (Food and Ag-ISAC), as announced in a press release recently.

It’s the latest move by IDFA to help the industry defend against the ever-growing threat of cyber crime against the segment and the food industry overall. The association has focused on cybersecurity programming in recent years, forming the Dairy Technology and Innovation Network (DTIN) in 2021 to share best practices, elevate development and spur innovation. IDFA has also hosted cybersecurity conferences in the past two years, along with webinars and virtual programming to heighten awareness of threats and share best practices for improved cyber security.

Through the partnership with Food and Ag-ISAC, IDFA members will receive regular briefings and resources to keep up with new threats and bolster defenses. Cyber crimes targeting the food industry overall have risen significantly in recent years, and the IDFA says at least three high-profile attacks have inflicted significant cost and disruption to dairy businesses in the past couple years.

Food and Ag-ISAC launched in May of this year after the federal government identified food production as one of its 16 critical infrastructure sectors, and it provides vendor-neutral threat analysis, facilitates peer-to-peer intelligence sharing and drives informed risk management.

IDFA and Food and Ag-ISAC will host an introductory webinar about the partnership and resources for IDFA members at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on September 27.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.