Dive Brief:
- In response to recent “malicious cyber activity” targeting industrial refrigeration systems in Europe, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI, along with several other federal agencies, including the USDA, released a statement on Thursday outlining the threat these attacks pose.
- The press release states that refrigeration and cold chain monitoring systems accessible from the internet can be at risk, as hackers can remotely interfere and cause widespread inventory loss and equipment hazards.
- This statement comes after multiple cyberattacks that have targeted refrigeration devices in supermarkets across Europe since early October.
Dive Insight:
After a string of cyberattacks in Europe, the U.S. federal government is looking to prevent similar attacks stateside. The announcement specifies that hackers can target certain refrigeration system flaws and then alter temperatures that can create fire hazards, cause inventory loss or indirectly harm consumers who eat a product after unsafe storage. Loss of visibility into current temperatures is another potential impact, per the statement.
To mitigate the risks, the U.S. government urges owners and operators to “immediately” take several steps, including not connecting control system devices to the public internet, keeping device firmware updated, and reporting unexpected activity.
The USDA, Health and Human Services and the Department of Transportation — federal agencies overseeing sectors that widely use industrial refrigeration and cold chain monitoring systems — were also part of Thursday’s joint statement.
In early October, hackers manipulated the refrigeration systems of hundreds of grocery stores across France after gaining access to programmable controllers that regulate commercial refrigeration systems, sister publication Cybersecurity Dive reported. The hackers raised the system’s temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to fires, spoiled food and millions of dollars in damage, the publication noted.
A second wave of cyberattacks struck just weeks later as hackers accessed dozens of internet-exposed refrigeration devices at major grocery chains across multiple European countries and reset the controls to defrost.
Another cybersecurity attack targeted refrigeration systems run by the French Blood Establishment, which oversees the country’s blood supply. An unknown hacker manipulated temperature controls at cold storage rooms for three of the organization’s sites, Cybersecurity Dive reported.
