American agriculture has a growing need to strengthen its defenses against cyber assaults. The computers, sensors, GPS and cloud-based data systems that help producers boost productivity also increase the chances for cybercriminals to worm their way into producers’ operational systems and data.
Cyber attacks on agribusinesses in recent years have demonstrated hackers’ ability to shut down processing plants, halt livestock purchases and cost corporations millions through ransomware attacks.
In the face of these threats, the University of Nebraska System (NU) is a key resource for strengthening agricultural cyber defenses. Multiple NU projects are in the forefront of analyzing and addressing key vulnerabilities.
"Many of the technologies used in precision agriculture such as drones have been designed for use and affordability before data security. They are also readily available off-the-shelf making them potential targets for those with malicious intent," said Meghan Jackson, director for food, agriculture and environment security at the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska. "Disruptions to an automated irrigation system or hacking of a dairy’s industrial control system could result in the failure of an entire season and even death of animals. Building resiliency into existing and new precision agriculture is critical to protecting America’s growing digital landscape."
As one of only 15 University Affiliated Research Centers (UARC) in the country designated by the U.S. Department of Defense, NSRI provides perspective and clarity regarding the evolving areas of concern within national security from the federal government. It partners with the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), which brings forward 150 years of experience in agricultural research and a deep commitment to producers and consumers, to forge research and development that matters to the DOD and beyond.
Among the many examples of NU’s growing impact on agricultural cybersecurity, researchers have strengthened the defense of autonomous agricultural vehicles against hacking, collaborated to research cyber effects and created a cybersecurity curriculum for producers and food processors.
Defense of Autonomous Agricultural Vehicles
Nebraska agricultural producers rank second in the nation in their use of precision agriculture technology, with 55% of producers applying it to soil moisture monitoring or livestock feed management, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reports.
"Farmers and producers are focusing on getting their inputs correct but not really on cybersecurity," said Dr. Santosh Pitla, professor of advanced machinery systems in the UNL biological systems engineering department. "We haven’t gotten to the point where we’re training them on that. So, this is a huge opportunity for us to strengthen producers’ cybersecurity understanding. It’s especially possible at a place like the University of Nebraska, where we stand out for producer-centric research. That's very powerful."
Dr. Pitla and colleagues collaborated with Dr. George Grispos, associate professor of cybersecurity in the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), to develop a Security Testbed for Agricultural Vehicles and Environments (STAVE), believed to be the first testbed to analyze cyber vulnerabilities for agricultural equipment. STAVE, a board-mounted electronic-computational device, emulates the operations of Flex-Ro, an autonomous ag robot developed by UNL biological systems engineering researchers, to check it for cyber concerns.
This collaboration among NU campuses stands out by pioneering a groundbreaking multidisciplinary approach in agriculture-focused cybersecurity research: The scientists combined advanced mechanical design with sophisticated cyber analysis. This interdisciplinary method draws on NU’s world-class expertise in those fields to produce a notable advancement in analyzing cyber-ag vulnerabilities.
In another project, UNL faculty are leading the National Agricultural Producers Data Cooperative (NAPDC), a multi-institutional working group, to create a cyber framework so producers can efficiently access precision-ag data — all in a cyber-secure system. University and private-sector scientists from across the country met in Lincoln last August for a NAPDC conference organized by UNL faculty.
"One of the objectives of the is ensuring long-term data security and privacy as a key characteristic of a national, public data ecosystem for agricultural producers," said Dr. Jennifer Clarke, professor of NAPDC statistics and food science and technology and director of the university’s Quantitative Life Sciences Initiative. "We have current projects exploring methods for data privacy and secure data transfer and hosting a data governance structure informed by producers."
Research for Cyberattack Effects
UNL is taking a major step forward on the cybersecurity front by developing the Agricultural Security Operations Center (AgSOC), a collaborative effort between various departments, including the agricultural research division, biological systems engineering, information technology and others in partnership with NSRI and the company Splunk.
The AgSOC will eventually monitor critical equipment across the university’s 40,000 research acres and facilities, including irrigation equipment, monitoring stations associated with the Nebraska Mesonet and collection points for NFarms, UNL’s multidisciplinary precision agriculture research complex operating on 3,000 acres. This will help ensure data security during research studies and provide the university with a test bed for the development of new cybersecurity methods to protect American agriculture.
The AgSOC will be located at UNL and provide students with workforce development opportunities. This will be the second SOC housed within the NU system committed to cybersecurity; the other is run by the National Counterterrorism Innovation Technology and Education Center (NCITE) at UNO.
"The AgSOC represents UNL’s continued investment and partnership with producers who are reliant on interconnected systems fed by big data," said Dr. Derek McLean, dean and director of the UNL Agricultural Research Division. "Finding better ways to protect and secure data used for critical decision making is one of our priorities."
In another research project, Dr. Grispos analyzed 31 agricultural applications on Android phones to look for security vulnerabilities, data transmission practices and third-party data sharing. The resulting analysis found that "some applications contain critical security vulnerabilities, including the transmission of sensitive data over unencrypted channels, the presence of previously known coding issues and potential data exposure to external entities."
The study noted that farmers "often operate under resource constraints and depend on the reliability of their digital tools. Vulnerabilities such as insecure storage, plaintext transmission, and outdated system compatibility can significantly disrupt farm operations."
Dr. Grispos recommended follow-up research that applies threat modeling and risk assessment frameworks to categorize and prioritize vulnerabilities, plus a survey of farmers to better understand how farmers choose applications, manage permissions and approach updates.
Led by Dr. Pitla, UNL and UNO researchers have also collaborated to create a preliminary analytical method to quantify how three types of cyber attacks on a fertilizer applicator would likely affect nitrogen use and yield per acre on a hypothetical 100-acre cornfield. Projected losses from the attacks would total between $13,000 and $32,000 for the producer, the researchers found.
"We took the actual fields and models that we use and put the correct ranges of yields so we could calculate some really accurate numbers in terms of what could be a potential penalty for the producer," Dr. Pitla said. "This is possible only with the interdisciplinary approach we use, connected to real-world scenarios."
Agriculture researchers and software researchers need to begin co-designing equipment and its accompanying software, Dr. Pitla said. That collaboration would help designers gain a fuller picture of overall needs upfront and go far in heading off a lot of the cybersecurity concerns facing agriculture. Such collaboration is especially needed given artificial intelligence’s increasing role in precision agriculture.
The multidisciplinary collaboration across NU exemplifies the most fruitful research approach for ag-focused cyber research, Dr. Pitla said, and Nebraska Extension is well-positioned to follow up by helping Nebraska ag producers understand the lessons learned.
"Because of our strong Extension program, in the future we can do literacy workshops in cybersecurity for farmers and producers," he said. "That will bring a lot of value to users."
Development of Cybersecurity Curriculum
Part of NU’s established history of promoting cyber security awareness and history of achievements is UNO’s designation as a National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence for Cyber Defense and Cyber Operations — one of only 19 universities in the country to hold both designations.
Dr. Grispos is one of the key research personnel supporting this UNO program and is also a research contributor to the establishment of the AgSOC at UNL. At UNO, he and his students study a wide range of agriculture-related cybersecurity issues. A key need, Dr. Grispos found, is to develop ways to help producers understand cyber threats and ways to protect against them.
"I came to realize that the problem for agricultural cybersecurity wasn’t necessarily technical," he said. "I started thinking — I need to focus my attention not on the technology but on the human elements."
With support from the Ponca Economic Development Corporation, Dr. Grispos developed a ten-module cybersecurity course specifically designed for Native American stakeholders. Ponca farmers in northeast Nebraska volunteered to try the curriculum and fill out surveys beforehand and afterward.
The participants identified financial and banking records as their No. 1 focus for cyber protection, followed by safeguarding tribal-heritage agricultural information.
The post-course survey "demonstrated a significant improvement in cybersecurity awareness, with all participants reporting increased familiarity with key threats and best practices," Dr. Grispos wrote in an analysis. "Notably, participants gained a stronger understanding of password security, multi-factor authentication, software updates, and network security measures, suggesting that the course successfully provided them with practical cybersecurity knowledge."
As part of the follow-up, some participants said it would help to include more hands-on learning opportunities, such as interactive exercises or simulations.
Ready to Respond
NU’s comprehensive approach to agricultural cybersecurity research and education, combined with its passion for collaboration, research innovation and producer impact, makes it an ideal partner for the Nation’s leaders to help tackle this growing security concern.
The world-class expertise and proven collaborative capability the system has demonstrated have tremendous value, not only to address current needs but also to strategize for the future, anticipating challenges and achieving solutions. NSRI stands ready to lead, support and partner, providing a unique bridge for academic and defense leaders.
"As cyber risks in agriculture intensify, this partnership represents the kind of forward-thinking collaboration that is essential for safeguarding both our national security and food security in the decades ahead," Jackson said. "We have seen drastic increases in the adoption of precision agriculture systems across the U.S. as well as cyber attacks across all industries. With increased dependence on these systems comes increased risk; however, as true farmers do, NU stands with its regional and national partners at the ready to increase our ability to defend against these attacks using every piece of figurative bailing twine and duct tape we have."
