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If hackers can take control of a supermarket freezer, how vulnerable is other tech?
Confirmed
In Short: Hackers remotely increased temperatures in supermarket fridges and freezers in seven European countries, spoiling food.
Hackers remotely increased temperatures in supermarket fridges and freezers in seven European countries, spoiling food. The incident affected stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Estonia, and Ireland.
In Sweden, ICA Group spokesperson Gustaf Nilsson said a limited number of stores were affected overnight, with temperatures rising to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). Rickard Nilsson, head of an ICA shop in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, said, “We can’t adjust the temperatures, we can’t change them. Hot air is blowing into the freezers. Everything is ruined.”
The incident is similar to a previous attack in France on October 12, where hackers targeted refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets belonging to the Intermarché and Coopérative U chains.
Danfoss, a refrigeration controller manufacturer, previously reported that hackers targeted or accessed supermarkets in Russia and Israel in 2022 using obsolete versions of its refrigeration controllers.
What this adds
The facts do not establish the motive behind the attacks or the specific method used by the hackers.
What's confirmed
- In Sweden, ICA Group supermarket chain spokesperson Gustaf Nilsson told news agency TT that “a limited number” of stores were affected overnight by an incident that affected refrigeration and freezing systems.
- The Carrefour supermarket chain in Belgium said a “cyberattack targeting refrigeration installations only had an extremely limited impact,” affecting 15 of its more than 700 stores.
- An ICA Kvantum store in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, said its fridges and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
- The Coop chain said that six of its stores in central Sweden had problems with their fridges and freezers, TT reported, though it didn’t immediately have details.
What's still developing
- According to a separate report by Nextgov/FCW, two people familiar with the matter said US officials suspect Iran-linked hackers could be behind the incidents.
- Supermarkets across several European countries are rushing to remove chilled products after a cyberattack impacting fridges and freezers.
- Europe is facing a fresh wave of supermarket cyberattacks, with Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia reporting problems with their refrigerators and freezers.
- Sweden’s National Cybersecurity Centre confirmed on Monday that it was responding to multiple incidents affecting supermarket cooling systems.
- Instacart operates a grocery-focused marketplace that connects consumers with supermarkets and other retailers, while DoorDash has been expanding aggressively into grocery, convenience, retail, and other local commerce categories.
- But he said a simpler explanation could be that the people running the fridges are not aware of the problem, “don’t think about that and it’s not top of their agenda”.
- No politically motivated “hacktivist” group has claimed responsibility and neither has a ransomware gang exploited the vulnerability to demand the supermarkets pay – which in any event would be difficult because the damage is already done when their fridges overheat.
- North Korea is believed to have been behind last week’s Binance cryptocurrency heist, but in this case hackers linked to Russia and China are also likely to be in the frame.
- In the UK, which has not yet been affected, retailers are “currently working with the National Cyber Security Centre(NCSC) to ensure their fridges and freezers are secure as possible against potential attacks” said Graham Wynn, the assistant director of regulatory affairs at the British Retail Consortium.
- It appeared to be a reprise of attacks three weeks ago when French retailers had to ditch huge amounts of food when their fridges suddenly overheated as a result of anonymous hackers seizing control of their internet-exposed appliance management software.
- Fridges are not unique in having their controls exposed to hackers.