Completed Project Overview: Agriculture is one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors for the U.S. economy and national security. The digitization of agriculture and the exponential rise in the number of internet connected devices on Iowa's farms raises concerns. Cyberattacks on Iowa’s agribusinesses has increased the urgency to secure farm business cyber ecosystems.
The goal of this project was to increase awareness of cybersecurity and help managers identify and implement steps to minimize risks. The project team introduced the novel topic of cybersecurity to a familiar audience of farm business owners through strategic partnerships with cybersecurity experts and industry partnerships. The team has: 1) posted five videos and six articles/handouts on the Ag Decision Maker website viewed by 953 learners, 2) hosted four intermediate lesson webinars with 196 learners, 3) hosted 75 introductory lesson presentations attended by 1,351 learners; and six intermediate lesson presentations attended by 84 learners, and 4) hosted a one-day intermediate lesson cybersecurity conference attended by 47 learners.
Participants improved their understanding of cybersecurity threats and accessed resources to help them take actions to minimize the risks of internet connectivity attacks or physical system failures.