Meat processing firms in the UK have been hit by cyber attacks after hackers targeted supermarket freezers across Europe.
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hackers → hit → Europe
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it is working with the firms affected and that the national impact is “minimal”.
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impact → say → firms
Speaking at the launch of the NCSC annual report on Tuesday, Paul Chichester, director of operations, said: “We’re aware of those incidents in the UK, and obviously we’re working with the affected organisations.
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we → speak → organisations
We’ll keep monitoring that.
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We → keep → that
He went on: “We’re working with organisations identifying existing vulnerabilities in the UK and trying to get those closed before somebody exploits them.”
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somebody → go → them
The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (Aims) said a few of its roughly 300 members had been impacted by the hack, with fridges heating up overnight.
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fridges → say → hack
But because of the way that abattoirs are typically run, the units were empty at the time – so there was no impact on any food produce.
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units → run → produce
A spokesman for Aims said the members that use the same software as affected European supermarkets had “unexpectedly become collateral” in the hack.
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that → say → hack
“None who have been affected have lost any meat, but once again this must act as a reminder to all in the food industry, at whatever point in the supply chain they are, that their businesses may be seen by some as targets,” he said.
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he → affect → targets
“We urge our members and the wider industry to vigilant.”
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We → urge → members
It is understood that no major supermarket chain has been directly impacted by the hack.
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chain → understand → hack
But retailers are being urged to monitor their systems closely for potential risks and ensure their software is up to date, as well as having contingency plans in place in case food produce needs to be relocated.
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produce → urge → case
Graham Wynn, assistant director of regulatory affairs at the BRC, said: “Retailers invest heavily in their cybersecurity and are currently working with the NCSC to ensure their fridges and freezers are secure as possible against potential attacks.”
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fridges → say → attacks
Head of the NCSC Dr Richard Horne said teams had been working throughout the night to alert British firms that are vulnerable to such an attack.
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that → say → attack
He told an audience at the report launch in central London: “Last night, we had people working through the night contacting organisations that we could see they had vulnerable technology exposed.”
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technology → tell → organisations
Dr Horne earlier told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “There are handfuls of organisations in the UK we’ve alerted and we’re aware of a couple of impacts.”
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we → tell → impacts
Put to him that some freezers in this country have been switched to defrost, he said: “We don’t know the full impact, but we can see there are a couple of instances where vulnerable technology has been exploited, and we will be working with those organisations to understand more.”
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we → Put → more
Speaking about who was behind the attack, he said: “It’s too early for us to say at the moment and give a definitive answer.”
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us → speak → answer
Asked if it reinforces warnings from the Defence Secretary that people in the UK should stockpile, he said: “Absolutely.
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he → ask → UK
And we saw criminal attacks last year impact retailers in the UK.
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attacks → see → UK
“We know it can happen, and we’ve seen it across Europe.
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we → know → Europe
We see all sorts of impacts of cyber attacks, and because technology underpins everything, and because there is so much vulnerability in the technology we rely on because it’s been underinvested in, we do need all organisations to look at what they rely on, to invest in renewal, and, at the end of the day, we work 24 by seven.
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we → see → seven
“We alert people.
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We → alert → people
We intervene where we can.
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we → intervene → ?
But, at the end of the day, it’s your business.
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it → ’ → day
It’s your charity.
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It → ’ → ?
It’s your life.
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It → ’ → ?
You need to make the choice and choose wisely.”
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You → need → choice
In his speech launching the report, Dr Horne said that the UK is at risk because it has done “tech on the cheap” for decades, as the NCSC warned Britain faces the prospect of AI-boosted attacks on critical national infrastructure in the next two years.
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Britain → launch → years
Hackers demanding ransom payments are “highly likely” to use AI to target the UK by 2028 and hostile states such as Russia and China will routinely use the technology to pursue their goals by then, the report found.
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report → demand → goals
In a speech launching the report on Tuesday, Dr Horne said: “It is clear that our nation is living through a moment that, in hindsight, we will see as one of enormous consequence.
“
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we → launch → consequence
“In the coming months, we face a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in the number of cyber incidents.
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we → face → incidents
“But we must be clear that is not because AI has invented new ways to attack us, but because vulnerabilities that have been tolerated for far too long can now be discovered and exploited at a scale that was once unimaginable.
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that → invent → scale
“And because far too many of our organisations and supply chains rest on weak technology and operational foundations.”
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many → rest → foundations
He warned that if businesses do not take action now, they will have to explain why they did not heed the warning signs amid empty supermarket shelves and power blackouts.
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they → warn → shelves
“If leaders of organisations of every size and type do not take the responsibility now to make different choices, then they will one day have to look their investors, shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, their families and friends in the eye and explain why, despite knowing the consequences, they failed to make the choices required.
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they → take → choices
“When food isn’t on shelves, lights aren’t on, businesses have gone under, we may have to explain that we saw the warning signs, understood the risks and still didn’t make the right choices.”
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we → go → choices
The NCSC annual report said that its incident management team received 1,831 reports this year of cyber attacks, of which 337 required support and 80 were nationally significant.
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80 → say → support
The team also warned 8,500 organisations when their systems had been compromised by attackers, the report added.
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report → warn → attackers
Dr Horne said: “For decades, we have collectively got away with doing tech on the cheap.
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we → say → cheap
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
