Cyber attack shuts down two Mackay Sugar mills
Farleigh Mill is the oldest operated by Mackay Sugar. (Supplied)
A cyber security "incident" has brought the Mackay region's sugar crush to a halt.
In a statement to growers and harvesting contractors, mill operator Mackay Sugar said it was responding to a "cyber security incident affecting operations".
Advocacy group Canegrowers confirmed on Wednesday the incident had shut down sugar milling and cane haulage across the Farleigh and Racecourse mills just outside Mackay, both of which had started crushing within the past week.
Mackay Sugar said there would be "some disruption while recovery activities occur" but was yet to provide a timeline to restart the mills.
A Farleigh Mill cane train with empty bins at Mandarana. (Supplied)
It said its focus was staff safety and "ensuring business continuity".
Canegrowers Mackay chairman Joseph Borg said many growers were issued with "cease harvesting" advice by Mackay Sugar early on Wednesday morning.
He said the cyber incident had affected multiple parts of the business.
"For trains on the tracks, they have fallback measures to get them back to the factories, and they're doing that," he said.
"From my understanding, there'll be more communication when that information comes out."
Jospeh Borg says growers were alerted in the early hours of Wednesday morning. (ABC Tropical North: Liam O'Connell)
Canegrowers Mackay district manager Michelle Martin said while it was "a bit of a hit" for the growers affected, a shutdown of this scale was better earlier in the season.
"It's probably better timing for it to happen now than halfway through the crush," she said.
Mackay Sugar's other mill was due to start crushing next week.
Growers in that region were not affected by Wednesday's incident.
Mackay Sugar is Australia's second-largest raw sugar producer, with almost 1,300 mainly family owned farms supplying its three mills.
The company typically processes about 700,000 tonnes of raw sugar a year.
The Farleigh Mill is one of two near Mackay affected by the cyber incident. (ABC Rural: Aimee Mitchell)
Mackay Sugar has been contacted for comment.
Local cane farmer Andre Camilleri said he and his sons were preparing for an early start for harvest today when they received a call from the mill at around 4am.
He said it was "concerning" the mills and cane rail network were vulnerable to incidents like this.
"It's disappointing, and it's disappointing for the mill staff as well because the crushing has started off on a reasonably good foot," he said.
"I know they'll be wanting to get up and going as soon as possible."
Computer systems vulnerable
Mackay Sugar operates three mills at Farleigh, Racecourse and Marian. (Supplied)
Cybersecurity expert at the University of Queensland Professor Ryan Ko said while big organisations often had robust cybersecurity measures in place, their scale also made them bigger targets.
He said while technology like multi-factor authentication and improved backups have helped reduce some types of attacks no system was bulletproof.
"Anything that runs an operating system will be typically affected," he said.
"These kinds of attacks are becoming more common."