THERE might have been a time when hacking into a food or agricultural company's system was far from a hacker's mind. Why threaten a company that provides a basic need? But this is simply just a rhetorical question. Because just like any other business, food companies have to protect their data and operations, and more so because if they don't, the health and safety of their consumers could also be at risk. While the adoption of IoT and smart technologies is paving a future that ensures efficient operations, better processing, and safer products, it has exposed F&B companies to sophisticated cyber criminals. Many manufacturers are falling victims to these crimes, and the threat to the food supply chain persists as long as systems are easy to breach. The only way forward is to continually strengthen their cybersecurity. To understand the issues, we talked to Vijay Vaidyanathan, who is currently the Regional Vice President – Solutions Engineering, APJ at the industrial