Supermarket refrigerators and freezers across Europe have been targeted by a cyberattack that raised the temperature of internet-linked units, destroying and damaging large quantities of food. On Monday, fridges and freezers at more than 100 shops in several European countries ran hot. Cyberattacks on supermarkets began last month, when hundreds of French supermarkets were left with spoiled food and damage to units which had overheated, costing millions of euros.
So far, it remains unclear why hackers targeted the supermarkets, but attacks have spread across the continent and even to the United States. On Monday, several supermarkets in Europe were affected, including the following: In August, freezers at a market in Fort Huachuca, an Army base in Arizona, went into defrost mode, spoiling all the frozen food they contained, according to a post on Facebook by the base. The same month, the naval station in Newport, Rhode Island, reported on Facebook that its refrigeration system was affected, leaving only dry goods were available for purchase.
The Pentagon considered the freezer malfunctions on the military bases to be a suspected hack, the news agency reported late last month, citing four officials close to the matter. One official said Pentagon investigators were communicating with the French authorities about the issue. Hackers can access the controls of fridges and freezers which use internet software and raise their temperature in order to spoil frozen food.
In some cases, hackers have increased the temperature of appliances to as high as 50C (122F) in European supermarkets, causing them to melt or even catch fire. Awais Rashid, a professor of cybersecurity at the University of Bristol in the UK, explained that many supermarket refrigeration systems which are remotely managed and, often by third parties, have not been given necessary software updates to prevent hackers. However, this is not the case in these incidents and they are accessible on the Internet,” Rashid told Al Jazeera.
There are known vulnerabilities in several controllers (many of which are past their end of life),” he said. Rashid added that vulnerabilities include “easily guessable” passwords, which would mean anyone could gain access. The motive behind the attacks is unclear, but authorities believe it may be a deliberate attempt to disrupt food supplies.
On Monday, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, said the attacks on fridges were a “deliberate attempt to disrupt” the bloc’s food supply and to undermine consumer confidence. He added that while “food security is not currently at risk … the food waste and impact on businesses are real”. Rashid said that while there are few details about who may be behind the attacks or what their motives are, it is likely that these are “the motive here is likely disruption”.
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