The United States warned in a statement issued on Thursday of a persistent cyber threat targeting cooling systems across various sectors, emphasizing that every institution relying on refrigerated storage should assume it could be a potential target for cyberattacks.
The warning follows a series of cyberattacks targeting cooling devices in the United States and Europe. According to the statement, unidentified malicious cyber actors are exploiting vulnerabilities in internet-connected electronic devices used for temperature and cooling control, particularly in grocery stores and refrigerated storage facilities.
The threat remains ongoing, despite few details being available about the identity of the hackers.
Exploiting these vulnerabilities could allow attackers to alter temperatures, potentially leading to physical risks such as:
Changes in the lifespan of cooling systems.
The statement was jointly issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the U.S. Departments of Health, Transportation, and Agriculture.
The agencies emphasized the need to:
Disconnect cooling control devices from public internet networks.
Isolate these devices from company networks to ensure better protection.
Immediately apply software updates to ensure security vulnerabilities are patched.
Chris Butera, Acting Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, stressed that "every institution relying on cooling and monitoring systems should assume being a potential target."
The past few months have witnessed at least three waves of cyberattacks targeting refrigerators and coolers at various companies.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) dealt with mysterious malfunctions in cooling units at grocery stores within U.S. military bases in August, which were believed to be a potential cyberattack.
Large-scale attacks on French cooling systems last month caused financial damages estimated at tens of millions of euros.
A second wave of attacks affected more than 100 stores across Europe on Monday.
These attacks have raised significant concerns about hackers' ability to remotely manipulate cooling devices and other vital appliances, threatening inventory safety and product quality across multiple critical sectors.
