The Pentagon believes a spate of freezer malfunctions that spoiled food at military bases across the United States in August may have been the work of hackers, according to a new report.
uncertain
that → believe → report
The malfunctions affected at least six commissaries in late August, according to a Reuters review.
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malfunctions → affect → review
Commissaries are stores on military bases where service members buy their food.
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members → buy → food
In at least one of the cases, the cooling units' temperatures were cranked up overnight, leading to mounds of wilted or melted food in the morning.
“Trust us when we say it was 'spoiled,'" Fort Huachuca in Arizona said in a Facebook post on Aug. 26 after freezers "went into defrost mode where it heated up all the food.”
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it → cool → food
Military investigators were in touch with their French counterparts about a similar cyberattack on commercial freezers that disrupted supermarkets there earlier this month.
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that → disrupt → supermarkets
The US Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division said its Cyber Field Office was involved in the investigation and that it was working with French law enforcement to better understand "the refrigeration outages in Europe."
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it → say → Europe
When asked about the investigation by Reuters, the Pentagon said that a unit of Cyber Command – the military's cyber force – was "working in close coordination with interagency and law enforcement partners."
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unit → ask → partners
The Pentagon seemingly has not reached a conclusion about what happened or who might be responsible.
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who → reach → conclusion
The spate of rogue freezer behavior and the possibility of cybersabotage were first reported on August 28 by a blog called Signal and Silence.
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spate → report → blog
French freezers attacked
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freezers → attack → ?
If the military base malfunctions are confirmed to be a cyberattack, it would be yet another illustration of how hackers can target vulnerable critical infrastructure, including cold storage.
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hackers → confirm → storage
In France, a freezer cyberattack overrode temperature controls on commercial cooling units in more than 350 establishments.
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cyberattack → override → establishments
Supermarkets' frozen food aisles were cleared of spoiled merchandise, leading to dramatic scenes.
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aisles → clear → scenes
The French hack involved cranking the temperature inside the units up rather than merely knocking them offline, similar to what happened in Fort Huachuca in Arizona.
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what → involve → Arizona
Some French refrigeration units had the temperature turned up so high that they caught fire.
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they → have → fire
The French attack's total costs could add up to tens of millions of euros nationwide, one supermarket owner estimated earlier this month.
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owner → add → euros
The French cyberattack appeared to have been easy to pull off, experts previously told Reuters.
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experts → appear → Reuters
The Danish firm Danfoss, whose controllers ran many of the stricken units, said that many of the devices were obsolete or were running outdated firmware, which could have made it easy for hackers to break in.
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hackers → run → firmware
Reuters could not establish whether Danfoss or any other brand of freezer controller were in use at the affected US bases and Danfoss did not return its messages seeking comment.
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Danfoss → establish → comment
Refrigeration plays a critical role in the distribution of fresh food.
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Refrigeration → play → food
The sabotage of cold storage facilities via the internet has long been seen as a nightmare scenario, alongside the loss of electricity or water plants.
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sabotage → see → plants
Earlier this year, the Global Food Safety Initiative, urged food safety professionals and IT leaders to work together to ensure "robust cybersecurity" for refrigeration technology, stating that "a hacked cooling system is just as dangerous as a broken one."
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system → urge → one
Hackers have sabotaged fridges and freezers in the United States and elsewhere.
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Hackers → sabotage → States
In 2022, hackers either targeted or broke into supermarkets in Russia and Israel that were using obsolete versions of its cold storage controllers, Danfoss previously said.
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Danfoss → target → controllers
In December 2025, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles accused a Ukrainian woman of being part of a hacker group that knocked out refrigeration at a meatpacking facility in 2024, ruining more than 2,000 pounds of meat.
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that → accuse → meat
Bill Moore, chief executive of industrial cybersecurity firm Xona Systems, said that controllers that were initially conceived as isolated interfaces to be serviced by an in-person technician were increasingly being connected to the internet, which was the main problem.
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which → say → internet
Concerns about online exposure were not unique to cooling systems but they could have particularly serious consequences there, he said.
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he → cool → consequences
"It can definitely disrupt the supply chain for food," he said.
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he → disrupt → food
The Aporia
