FBI warning on freezer attacks
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) by the FBI Cyber Branch, the agency said it is tracking malicious cyber activity targeting industrial refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems worldwide. The FBI has warned American grocery stores and cold storage facilities to lock down their refrigeration systems, following a wave of cyberattacks in Europe where hackers remotely raised freezer temperatures and ruined store inventories. These electronic controllers are used across critical infrastructure to keep food, medicine and other temperature-sensitive goods safe.
security weaknesses in unpatched or internet-accessible controllers can allow attackers to change system settings, potentially causing inventory loss and equipment damage While this attack was unsuccessful due to the proper alert mechanisms in place. Attackers are getting in through controllers that are unpatched, reachable from the internet, or still using the default passwords listed in the manufacturer’s manual,” Leatherman said, New York Post reported. Security experts and federal investigators are looking closely at whether similar attacks have already reached American soil. In August, a series of freezer malfunctions ruined food at six US military base commissaries. Those incidents are currently under investigation as a suspected hack. The Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Cyber Field Office, the Defense Commissary Agency, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service – all operating under the US Department of Defense – are working with French law enforcement to determine if the military base malfunctions are connected to the European grocery store attacks. In an accompanying video message, Brett Leatherman, Assistant Director of the FBI Cyber Division, explained how attackers are breaking in. “These systems protect food and medicine across healthcare, food and agriculture, and other critical sectors here in the United States as well. Once inside, hackers can alter system settings, leading to spoiled inventory and damaged equipment. To prevent this, the FBI is urging organisations to take six specific steps: Take controllers off the public internet Put access behind a firewall Change default passwords Learn how vendors configure devices Set safe temperature limits Ensure alerts reach the right contacts You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
Because proper alert systems were in place, hackers also recently targeted refrigeration components at three foreign blood service facilities – an attack that failed only. The warning comes just days after supermarkets in France, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia were hit by remote hackers who raised fridge and freezer temperatures, forcing stores to throw out spoiled food. The @FBI and our partners are seeing malicious cyber activity targeting industrial refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems around the world. These systems help keep food, medicine, and other products at safe temperatures and are widely used across critical infrastructure sectors. Attackers are targeting electronic temperature and refrigeration controllers, particularly in grocery stores and cold storage facilities. In at least one recent incident, attackers targeted refrigeration components at three foreign blood service facilities.