WASHINGTON (The Thursday Times) — US agencies warned on Thursday of an “ongoing cyber threat” to internet-connected refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems, after attacks on supermarket freezers, US military bases and a French blood bank.
In a joint statement, the cybersecurity agency CISA, the FBI and the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services and Transportation said hackers were targeting systems in grocery stores and cold storage facilities. “If successfully exploited, the actors could change the temperature and possibly cause physical impacts such as fire hazards, loss of inventory and changes to the service life of the system,” they said.
The agencies urged companies to take remote control systems off the internet, strengthen passwords, apply updates and retire equipment no longer supported by its maker. “Every organization that depends on refrigeration and monitoring systems should assume it could be a target,” said Chris Butera, CISA’s acting cybersecurity chief.
The warning follows several waves of attacks in Britain and Europe that turned up the temperature on freezers in at least a dozen countries, including the hack on a French blood bank. The US has not blamed any group or government, though security researchers broadly point to Iran and US officials reportedly suspect it. A pro-Russian group earlier claimed some of the European attacks.
