That is why the European Union has included the agri-food industry under the scope of two landmark legislations:
- NIS-2 Directive (2023): Focused on improving cybersecurity across essential and important sectors, mandating risk management, incident reporting, and supply chain security.
- Cyber Resilience Act (CRA, entering into force in 2024, applicable by 2027): Establishes cybersecurity requirements for all products with digital elements, including IoT hardware and software, mandating secure-by-design principles and continuous updates.
Common Risks in Agri-Food Cybersecurity
- Legacy industrial equipment with unpatched vulnerabilities.
- Centralized data silos vulnerable to ransomware.
- Weakly secured IoT sensors and gateways.
- Lack of traceability for updates or operator actions.
- Low visibility of threats across distributed rural environments.
Cyberattack Trends in the Food Sector
In 2021, the world’s largest meat processor, JBS Foods, paid an $11 million ransom after a ransomware attack crippled its global operations. Incidents like this demonstrate that food companies are now prime targets—making NIS-2 and CRA compliance not just a legal necessity, but a business-critical decision
Agri Solutions x Modino.io: Strategic Collaboration for Regulatory Readiness
To help agri-food businesses efficiently meet these requirements, Agri Solutions has partnered with Modino.io – a specialist in secure-by-design, regulation-grade firmware update systems built for IIoT environments governed by NIS-2 and CRA. As part of the FarmCloud platform, Agri Solutions integrates Modino.io’s capabilities to offer:
- Immutable, signed and encrypted Over-the-Air (OTA) updates, ensuring that only verified firmware is deployed across distributed devices.
- Zero-trust architecture and end-to-end encryption for all device-cloud communication, even in low-connectivity rural zones.
- Real-time anomaly detection, policy enforcement, and automated cryptographic key and certificate rotation, compliant with NIS-2 mandates.
- Built-in support for CE marking under CRA via cryptographic safeguards, vulnerability management hooks, and software lifecycle traceability.
- Centralized, audit-ready security management for IoT endpoints across farms, processing plants, and cold chain logistics.
This collaboration ensures that dedicated FarmCloud-based installations are NIS-2 and CRA-ready by design, while futureproofing equipment for CE marking and continued market access post-2027.
Key Implementation Requirements for Agri-Food Companies
Complying with NIS-2 and CRA requires businesses to address multiple pillars of cybersecurity:
- Vulnerability and patch management – Closing security gaps within hours or days.
- Incident detection and reporting – Obligatory notification within 24-72 hours.
- Supply chain controls – Ensuring third-party providers, including farmers and OEMs, meet crypto hygiene standards.
- Product lifecycle security – Ongoing updates, unique credentials (no factory passwords), and encrypted communication.
Modino.io’s modular security agent can be deployed on new or legacy hardware, enforcing encryption, and signed updates without requiring root access. It simplifies compliance audits by offering automated SBOM generation, vulnerability tracking, and full deployment traceability
How FarmCloud Enhances Cybersecurity and Operational Resilience
FarmCloud integrates seamlessly into diverse agri-food systems, from processing facilities to field-level operations, offering:
- ISO 27001 & ISO 9001 certified deployments, ensuring robust information security and quality management practices.
- End-to-end traceability of food production with encrypted data capture at the source.
- Real-time IoT data pipelines from edge devices (sensors, weather stations, livestock monitors) to a secured cloud dashboard.
- Remote access and alerts for anomalies in farming operations or cold chain logistics.
With FarmCloud, even distributed suppliers and farms benefit from the same level of protection as corporate HQs or government-linked research institutes. The platform has already been successfully implemented across corporations, R&D bodies, and public institutions, building trust through transparent, traceable, and secure data infrastructures. Modino.io’s secure update and compliance infrastructure is fully compatible with FarmCloud, offering a future-proof path toward NIS-2 and CRA compliance for edge devices and firmware when adopted.
Who Is Affected—and What It Means
The NIS-2 directive applies to:
- Essential entities (e.g., large agri-food manufacturers, water/food suppliers).
- Important entities (mid-sized players processing sensitive data or critical inputs).
- Entities with 50+ employees or €10M+ turnover in a critical supply role.
Failure to comply may result in:
- Hefty administrative fines (up to €10M or 2% of global turnover).
- Mandatory audits, public breach disclosures, and reputational damage.
- Suspension of operations or CE certification for insecure products (CRA impact).
At the same time, compliance unlocks access to:
- Government procurement, subsidy programs, and private certification schemes.
- Customer trust through verifiable cyber hygiene and food safety assurances.
Legacy Systems? It’s Time to Modernize
Many agri-food firms still rely on legacy SCADA systems, siloed ERPs, or manual patching. This is a unique moment to:
- Transition to secure cloud-first architectures.
- Deploy modular, auditable systems like FarmCloud that offer out-of-the-box compliance.
- Replace static, paper-based processes with sensor-driven, real-time monitoring.
Recommendations for Agri-Food Businesses
- Audit your current digital infrastructure for NIS-2 and CRA readiness.
- Map all IoT and software components across your supply chain and keep an updated SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) and CBOM (Cryptography Bill of Materials).
- Choose partners like Agri Solutions + Modino.io, whose infrastructure is purpose-built for plug-and-play compliance with NIS-2 and CRA – from firmware updates to full cryptographic traceability.
- Educate staff and suppliers on their cyber obligations and reporting protocols.
- Leverage this transition to modernize, not just comply.
Conclusion
The digital transformation of agriculture isn’t optional—it’s a regulatory, economic, and food security imperative. With FarmCloud and its integration with Modino.io’s compliance-grade IoT infrastructure, Agri Solutions empowers agri-food players to lead, not lag, in this transformation. Modino.io doesn’t just support digitalization, it embeds regulatory trust at the core of every device, every update, and every connection. NIS-2 and the Cyber Resilience Act are not roadblocks—they are blueprints for a safer, smarter, and more sustainable food system.
Let’s secure the future of food—together.
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