(Radio Iowa) – University students from across the country recently met in Ames for the annual CyberTractor Challenge where they tried to make tractors do things they’re not supposed. John Deere global chief information security officer James Johnson started the CyberTractor Challenge four years ago as the need for cybersecurity has grown alongside precision agriculture. “The more dependent we are on technology, the bigger the challenge that we’re going to have as a company,” he says. The technology includes G-P-S guidance, internet-connected sensors and other data-driven technology in tractors and other machines. Johnson says it’s not just about John Deere.

“It’s about, how do we make the industry more resilient and more secure because our customers might drive a John Deere tractor and pull a red planter or a blue planter,” he says.
Johnson says attracting more talent to cybersecurity benefits manufacturers, farmers and the national food supply. Students tried to hack into the machine’s operating systems. John Deere’s Carl Kubalsky says precision agriculture can make farming more efficient, but it can also open more points of attack for cyber criminals.

“The work that these students are doing and the careers that they’ll go on to do is important for all of us, whether it’s John Deere or C-N-H or another manufacturer,” he says Students from seven universities across the country attended the CyberTractor Challenge.