The Pentagon is treating a series of freezer malfunctions at U.S. military bases as suspected cyberattacks, raising questions about the security of refrigeration systems and other connected equipment used to support military installations. The incidents occurred in late August and affected at least six military commissaries. In one reported case, freezer controls appeared to have been altered overnight, causing food to spoil.
Cyber Command is working with other government agencies and law enforcement partners, the Pentagon told Newsweek. The Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has also confirmed that its Cyber Field Office is involved and is coordinating with French law enforcement to better understand refrigeration outages in Europe. Thomas Hamilton, CID spokesman, told Newsweek that the division is "actively working with the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) to determine the full extent of what occurred with the refrigeration units in the commissaries on military installations." "Army CID is also working with DCIS and French law enforcement in understanding the refrigeration outages in Europe," he added.
The investigation comes weeks after cyberattacks disrupted refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets, prompting investigators to examine potential vulnerabilities in connected cooling equipment. However, officials have not publicly established what caused the U.S. malfunctions, whether the incidents were deliberate acts of sabotage or who might have been responsible. A Defense Department official told Newsweek on Thursday that the department was "aware of speculation regarding a potential cyber incident." "For security reasons, we do not comment on ongoing law enforcement investigations," they added.
The U.S. incidents occurred in late August, when at least six military commissaries reported freezer malfunctions, according to a review of military installation websites and social media posts. Commissaries are stores on military installations that sell groceries and other goods to eligible members of the military community. The six military bases struck by the outages within days of each other included: There are also several unconfirmed outages according to military media, including problems at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and Naval Air Station Lemoore in California.
The significance of the outages lie in the reported behavior of the equipment. A refrigeration system that stops cooling may indicate a mechanical failure or power disruption. A system whose settings have apparently been changed to raise temperatures presents a different set of questions, including whether someone gained unauthorized access to its controls.
Several central questions remain unanswered. Neither the Pentagon nor the Army has publicly identified a suspect or group. There is no publicly confirmed evidence attributing the U.S. incidents to a foreign government, criminal organization or individual hacker.
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