Articles by Robert A. Norton Ph.D.

An increasingly critical element of food safety and defense planning is assurance of data integrity—the ability to keep data unchanged as it is communicated or stored. Information that is used for decision-making or reporting cannot be compromised, altered, or manipulated by unauthorized users. Threat information is best shared through the establishment and voluntary participation of an Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC). Food and agriculture is the only sector that lacks an ISAC. With security threats against the sector increasing and cyber threats against the global supply system also on the rise, it is imperative that a food and agriculture ISAC be formed.

Cyber is the backbone for food and agriculture defense. Adversaries have the means, opportunity, and motivation to break the cyber backbone at will. If or when adversaries carry out an attack of large magnitude, the result could be a massive compromise of food safety, food defenses, and food security. To avoid that dark scenario, agriculture and food companies must properly prepare for a different kind of assault. The place to start is with their own cyber defense systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted the food supply. This article seeks to explain the transcendent lessons of this national emergency, with the hope that being aware of them will help national decision-makers better prepare for next time. Our food systems, like the larger supply chain, will be challenged in the future with new kinds of disruptions, making it essential that mistakes are not repeated and that proactive, correct solutions are discovered and preparations made now.

Food safety and food defense are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other, ultimately meaning that if one is compromised, so too is the other.

Is coronavirus transmission by food or food packaging a valid concern? Here’s what we know and what we should be doing in the current absence of clear causality. 

How strong is your food defense plan? The protection of your employees, your brand, and your bottom line is at stake.