CISA, FBI warn of global refrigeration cyberattacks — SkimNews
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- CISA, the FBI and the departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Transportation jointly warned Thursday that hackers are targeting electronic temperature controls at grocery stores and cold-storage facilities worldwide.
- Nextgov/FCW reported that U.S. officials suspect Iran-linked hackers were behind freezer malfunctions at roughly six military commissaries beginning in late August; Reuters said the Pentagon treated the incidents as possible cyberattacks, but the joint U.S. notice named no responsible party.
- France saw hackers target refrigeration systems at three regional blood banks overnight Sunday into Monday; the incidents followed attacks at hundreds of French establishments in October.
- Sweden, along with Belgium and Luxembourg, was among the countries hit by a new wave of supermarket attacks this week; the attacks raised refrigerator temperatures and forced retailers to discard food.
- CISA warned attackers could force continuous heating or defrost cycles, hide current temperatures and create fire hazards; it urged operators to remove controls from the public internet, secure remote access, separate controls from business networks, replace default passwords, install updates and retire unsupported equipment.
- Brett Leatherman, the FBI's cyber branch operations director, said the systems are being targeted across critical infrastructure sectors globally, putting inventory and equipment at risk; hospitals, pharmaceutical suppliers, chemical companies and transportation providers all depend on them.
- European Commission, ENISA, Europol and national authorities issued their own joint warning Wednesday, called for immediate action on exposed equipment and said they are coordinating a response and sharing information.
Why it matters: Exposed digital temperature controls are the target, not just refrigerators: hospitals, pharmaceutical suppliers, and chemical and transportation providers rely on the same systems. With roughly six U.S. military commissaries affected and three French blood banks targeted, agencies treat exposed refrigeration controls as critical infrastructure, with food loss and fire hazards already reported.
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