US Warns Of Ongoing Cyber Threat To Industrial Freezers And Cold Storage

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

Federal agencies warned Thursday that hackers are targeting refrigeration systems used to store food and medicine, urging businesses to secure vulnerable controls amid attacks that could spoil supplies and damage equipment.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI, and the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Transportation described the ongoing malicious activity as targeting unpatched or internet-accessible temperature and commercial refrigeration controllers.

The systems are widely used in healthcare, chemical, food and agriculture, and transportation operations.

In a fact sheet, officials said successful attacks could allow hackers to alter temperatures, force units into continuous heating or defrost cycles, and create risks including inventory loss, equipment damage, and potential fire hazards.

“Every organization that depends on refrigeration and monitoring systems should assume it could be a target,” Chris Butera, CISA’s acting executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement.

He urged operators to review the guidance and close known security gaps.

FBI Cyber Branch Operations Director Brett Leatherman said the agency is seeing the systems targeted across critical infrastructure sectors globally.

“These systems protect food, medicine and other temperature-sensitive products, making them attractive targets,” he said.

The FBI encouraged organizations to implement the recommended mitigations and report suspicious activity.

The agencies recommended that operators remove control systems from the public internet, change default and weak passwords, apply available patches, replace unsupported legacy devices, and limit or secure any necessary remote access.

Hackers Hit European Supermarkets

The warning follows a series of reported attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems in Europe.

On Monday, supermarket chains in Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, and other European countries reported that freezers and refrigerators had been remotely set to high temperatures.

Irish wholesaler Musgrave said a cyber incident affected refrigeration units in 13 SuperValu stores, forcing them to remove some chilled and frozen products.

Belgian and Luxembourg operators Delhaize and Colruyt, along with Carrefour, also reported impacts at multiple locations.

In Stockholm, an ICA store manager said that freezers reached 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) after an overnight attack that went undetected for hours. A Selver supermarket in Estonia was similarly affected.

Defrost Mode Triggered

The incidents follow a larger wave of attacks in France last month, in which refrigeration systems at hundreds of stores were reportedly forced into defrost mode for hours.

One French chain estimated losses in the tens of millions of euros from a single day’s disruption.

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said roughly 700 of the country’s 10,000 supermarkets were affected and described the incident as a wake-up call for food security.

A separate cyberattack on Monday targeted refrigeration systems at three sites of France’s public blood service, forcing temperatures to rise in cold storage rooms. Officials said monitoring and alarm systems allowed rapid response, and no blood products were compromised.

U.S. officials did not attribute the European incidents to any specific group or confirm whether they have detected similar attacks inside the United States.

Reuters contributed to this report.