Supermarket refrigerators and freezers across Europe have been targeted by a cyberattack that raised the temperature of internet-linked units, destroying and damaging large quantities of food.
asserted
that → target → food
On Monday, fridges and freezers at more than 100 shops in several European countries ran hot.
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fridges → run → countries
Cyberattacks on supermarkets began last month, when hundreds of French supermarkets were left with spoiled food and damage to units which had overheated, costing millions of euros.
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which → begin → euros
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list → allege → Ukraine
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truce → hack → cyberattacks
4Suspected cyberattacks trigger supermarket fridge failures across Europe
So far, it remains unclear why hackers targeted the supermarkets, but attacks have spread across the continent and even to the United States.
uncertain
attacks → trigger → States
Here’s what we know:
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we → ’ → what
Which countries in Europe have been targeted?
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countries → target → Europe
On Monday, several supermarkets in Europe were affected, including the following:
- Dutch supermarket operator Delhaize said dozens of its shops in Belgium and Luxembourg were hit by an “IT incident”.
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dozens → affect → incident
- French retailer Carrefour said about 15 of its 700 Belgian locations were hit by refrigeration problems.
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15 → say → problems
- The Colruyt group, which runs Spar stores in Belgium as franchises, said five of its shops were affected.
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five → run → shops
- Swedish Coop said cooling systems at seven of its 800 stores were affected, with disruptions ranging from complete shutdowns to partial operation.
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systems → say → operation
- Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, which also operates restaurants at its stores, said one site in Mons, Belgium, had been affected by a cyberattack.
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site → operate → cyberattack
- De Laet & Van Haver, the Belgian butchery chain, said the temperature in its fridges at its store in Hove, south of Antwerp, was raised as high as 18 degrees Celsius, ruining meat worth about 15,000 euros ($16,764).
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temperature → say → meat
- The food wholesaler Musgrave said a cyber-incident affected refrigeration systems in 13 of its SuperValu stores in Ireland.
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incident → say → Ireland
- In October, hundreds of French supermarkets suffered cyberattacks, spoiling tonnes of food, causing fires and melting parts of refrigeration units.
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hundreds → suffer → units
What has happened in the US?
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What → happen → US
In August, freezers at a market in Fort Huachuca, an Army base in Arizona, went into defrost mode, spoiling all the frozen food they contained, according to a post on Facebook by the base.
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they → go → base
The same month, the naval station in Newport, Rhode Island, reported on Facebook that its refrigeration system was affected, leaving only dry goods were available for purchase.
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goods → report → purchase
The Pentagon considered the freezer malfunctions on the military bases to be a suspected hack, the Reuters news agency reported late last month, citing four officials close to the matter.
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agency → consider → matter
One official said Pentagon investigators were communicating with the French authorities about the issue.
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investigators → say → issue
How are cyberattackers targeting fridges and freezers?
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cyberattackers → target → fridges
Hackers can access the controls of fridges and freezers which use internet software and raise their temperature in order to spoil frozen food.
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which → access → food
In some cases, hackers have increased the temperature of appliances to as high as 50C (122F) in European supermarkets, causing them to melt or even catch fire.
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them → increase → fire
Awais Rashid, a professor of cybersecurity at the University of Bristol in the UK, explained that many supermarket refrigeration systems which are remotely managed and, often by third parties, have not been given necessary software updates to prevent hackers.
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which → explain → hackers
“In line with established cyber security practices, these systems should be managed via secure networks.
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systems → establish → networks
However, this is not the case in these incidents and they are accessible on the Internet,” Rashid told Al Jazeera.
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Rashid → tell → Jazeera
“A remote managing party can access a web server on the controller to configure the system including temperature changes and maintenance.
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party → manage → changes
There are known vulnerabilities in several controllers (many of which are past their end of life),” he said.
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he → be → life
Rashid added that vulnerabilities include “easily guessable” passwords, which would mean anyone could gain access.
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anyone → add → access
Why are hackers doing this?
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hackers → do → this
The motive behind the attacks is unclear, but authorities believe it may be a deliberate attempt to disrupt food supplies.
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it → believe → supplies
On Monday, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, said the attacks on fridges were a “deliberate attempt to disrupt” the bloc’s food supply and to undermine consumer confidence.
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attacks → say → confidence
He added that while “food security is not currently at risk … the food waste and impact on businesses are real”.
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waste → add → businesses
Rashid said that while there are few details about who may be behind the attacks or what their motives are, it is likely that these are “the motive here is likely disruption”.
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motive → say → attacks
“This has financial impacts on the supermarkets but also societal impacts in terms of security of the food supply chain.
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This → have → chain
Critically, this risks undermining trust in infrastructures on which people rely daily,” he said.
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he → risk → which
On Monday, Belgium’s prosecutor’s office announced that it had opened a criminal investigation into the latest fridge cyberattacks.
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it → announce → cyberattacks
But so far, no one has taken responsibility.
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one → take → responsibility
Theories have emerged linking state actors to cyberattacks generally, with North Korea most recently accused of being behind last week’s $6.3bn Binance cryptocurrency heist, which forced the crypto group to freeze accounts.
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which → link → accounts
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
