FBI Cyber and Nebraska Farm Bureau
FBI Cyber and Nebraska Farm Bureau partner together to protect American farmlands.
Video Transcript
Gene Kowel: Hi, I'm Gene Kowel, special agent in charge of the FBI's Omaha Field Office.
Mark McHargue: And I'm Mark McHargue, president of Nebraska Farm Bureau and a fourth generation farmer.
Kowel: Over the past several years, Mark and I have built a very strong partnership. Would you agree?
McHargue: I would agree, Gene, and it couldn't come at it any more important time. Agriculture is a big business for our state. But not only agriculture, but the food sector that drives America.
Kowel: American technology and innovation has made our farms, our ranches, our food processing industry more productive and efficient than ever before. But it also makes us more vulnerable to cyber threats. And in today's digital world, cybercriminals are targeting Nebraska's food and agricultural sector more and more. During the fall 2021 harvest, ransomware actors hit six of our nation's grain cooperatives, and some of these co-ops had to halt production completely, which is exactly what these cyber actors wanted to hold our information hostage and to profit from our vulnerability.
McHargue: And that's why it's important to have a friend at the FBI and establish a cybersecurity risk plan and practice that often.
Kowel: That's right. It's imperative that we form strong lasting partnerships with all of you. Farmers, ranchers and industry workers of Nebraska to secure our nation's supply of food, seed, and biofuel.
McHargue: The FBI can be on your side before, during and after an incident happens.
Kowel: If there's one thing we want folks to take away, it's to give us a call.
McHargue: So develop a cybersecurity plan, because cyber risk is business risk.
Kowel: And cybersecurity is national security.
Video Download
Recent Video
- 02.07.2025 — Inside the FBI: Intercepting the South American Theft Group Threat
- 02.06.2025 — Inside the FBI Podcast: My Mission Miniseries - Katie Connell
- 02.06.2025 — Inside the FBI Podcast: Endangered Child Alert Program
- 02.04.2025 — Media B-Roll: Acting Director Brian Driscoll
- 02.04.2025 — Acting Director Brian Driscoll Statement on Recent FBI Achievements
- 02.03.2025 — Surveillance Video Related to Triple Homicide in Cypress, Texas
- 01.29.2025 — Oak Ridge Boys Scam Warning
- 01.29.2025 — Oak Ridge Boys Fight Elder Fraud
- 01.16.2025 — Trailer for In the Aftermath
- 01.16.2025 — Trailer for Echoes of Columbine
- 01.15.2025 — Ahead of the Threat Podcast: Episode Six - Charles Carmakal
- 01.14.2025 — Violence Against American Indian or Alaska Native Females, 2021 – 2023
- 01.13.2025 — FBI Director Christopher A. Wray's Farewell
- 01.05.2025 — Video Footage Related to Bourbon Street Attack in New Orleans
- 01.02.2025 — January 5 Pipe Bomb Investigation: Additional Details and Footage of Suspect
- 12.31.2024 — January 5 Pipe Bomb Investigation: New Footage of Suspect Placing Bomb at DNC
- 12.18.2024 — Director Wray’s Full Remarks for the FBI All-Employee Town Hall Address
- 12.18.2024 — Ahead of the Threat Podcast: Episode Five - Rachel Lavender
- 12.13.2024 — FBI Seattle Holiday Scams
- 12.12.2024 — Trailer for The Shift That Never Ended: Stories of Resilience
FBI Weekly Newsletter
Subscribe to our email newsletter for news on the FBI, sent out every week.