Cargill security chief: informed employees are among the strongest defenses against cyberattacks
Brian Cincera, chief information security officer at agribusiness giant Cargill, says the company's strategy rests on early threat detection and employee training. He considers cyber threats to the sector serious but not apocalyptic.
Brian Cincera, chief information security officer (CISO) at the US-based multinational agribusiness Cargill, has told the industry news site AgFunderNews how the company protects itself against cyberattacks. In his view, the most important steps are being able to detect threats early, knowing how to respond, and training the whole organization to do the same. Cincera joined Cargill in 2024 after nearly 20 years at pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Not every attempt can be prevented
Cincera stresses that Cargill does not assume every attempt can be stopped, so it concentrates on readiness to spot threats early and act decisively. Its security approach begins with business strategy: the company identifies the operations and relationships most critical to it and to the global food system, then chooses protections for them. These include monitoring, preparedness exercises, employee education and phishing simulations. Cargill also uses advanced AI to improve prevention and speed up detection. According to Cincera, the same kind of AI lets adversaries build more convincing and scalable attacks.
For security reasons, Cargill does not discuss specific incidents or details of its defenses.
Industry cooperation
Cargill is among the founders of the Food and Ag-ISAC, formed in 2023 as a forum where food and agriculture companies share threat intelligence and security practices. Cincera notes that the supply chain is closely interconnected, so an incident at one organization can affect suppliers, manufacturers and ultimately consumers.
Threat assessment and advice for startups
Cincera says the threat is serious enough that cybersecurity cannot be treated purely as an IT matter, but it is not a reason to be apocalyptic. As the sector becomes more reliant on automation and remotely managed systems, incidents can also affect production and supply chains. For agtech startups, he advises starting from the business need rather than the technology, and building security and privacy in from the start.
Cargill employs about 155,000 people, and Cincera says one employee speaking up about suspicious activity can help protect everyone around them.
