The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (Aims) said a few of its roughly 300 members had “unexpectedly become collateral” from the hack.
asserted
few → say → hack
Some members saw fridge systems begin to defrost on Monday night, and another saw their unit rise up to 100C in temperature.
asserted
unit → see → temperature
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.
asserted
units → run → produce
A spokesman for Aims said: “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.”
uncertain
businesses → say → targets
“We urge our members and the wider industry to be vigilant,” he added.
asserted
he → urge → members
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it is working with the firms affected and that the national impact is “minimal”.
asserted
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.
asserted
we → speak → organisations
We’ll keep monitoring that.
asserted
We → monitor → 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.”
asserted
somebody → go → them
It is understood that no major supermarket chain has been directly impacted by the hack.
asserted
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.
asserted
produce → urge → case
Graham Wynn, assistant director of regulatory affairs at the British Retail Consortium, 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.”
asserted
fridges → say → attacks
Rupert Ashby, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, said retailers “across the supply chain are taking cyber security extremely seriously”.
asserted
retailers → say → security
Read More
“Members are looking closely at their freezer provision and assessing how vulnerable their systems might be,” he said.
uncertain
he → read → provision
It emerged that the cyber attack on French supermarket fridges involved legacy technology connected to internet with default passwords.
asserted
attack → emerge → passwords
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.”
uncertain
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.”
asserted
we → tell → impacts
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.”
asserted
us → speak → answer
Asked if it reinforces warnings from the Defence Secretary that people in the UK should stockpile, he said: “Absolutely.
asserted
he → ask → UK
And we saw criminal attacks last year impact retailers in the UK.
asserted
attacks → see → UK
“We know it can happen, and we’ve seen it across Europe.
asserted
we → know → Europe
“We alert people.
asserted
We → alert → people
We intervene where we can.
asserted
we → intervene → ?
But, at the end of the day, it’s your business.
asserted
it → ’ → day
It’s your charity.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
It’s your life.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
You need to make the choice and choose wisely.”
asserted
You → need → choice
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.
asserted
80 → say → support
The team also warned 8,500 organisations when their systems had been compromised by attackers, the report added.
asserted
report → warn → attackers
The Aporia
