The new cold war: why our fridges are frontline targets in a cyberattack

Detailed summary

Since October, waves of cyberattacks across Europe have exposed the vulnerability of refrigeration control systems and our dependency on them

Of all the things you might be expecting on the front line of geopolitical conflict, the supermarket chiller cabinet is not an obvious contender. But since October, waves of cyberattacks across Europe have exposed the vulnerability of humble refrigeration systems and our dependency on them.

Yes, this goes far beyond attacking the frozen peas in aisle seven. From Sweden, where supermarket refrigeration controllers were set to 50C, to France where blood-storage facilities were targeted alongside food retailers, cybersecurity researcher Fredrik Blix has estimated that around 940 shops across Europe have been affected.

On a Feltham industrial estate, staff at Langridge Organics are winding down after another hectic morning of deliveries to customers, including Planet Organic.

Owner Alex Pearce started the business with his uncle in 1985 and is remarkably well hedged against emergencies, with solar panels, 48 batteries capable of running the business for 15 hours and enough renewable diesel for eight weeks of deliveries.

The only thing they hadn’t thought of was a cyberattack on their fridges. On November 2, Pearce arrived just after 5am to find defrost lights blinking. One controller displayed “150 degrees”, although the fridge itself was at 6.2C. Another unit was also defrosting. “So now I’m thinking, this is not right because these two fridges are not connected.”

Then another light came on. Six of his 10 refrigeration controllers had altered settings, including a defrost cycle set to 50 degrees. Pearce disconnected the central monitoring system.

Fourteen hours later, an email arrived from the National Cyber Security Centre warning that the business had been hacked. “I’d already figured that out,” he says.

Of course we’d all like to know who is behind this. Two pro-Russian groups claimed responsibility for the European attacks. But French officials have since accused hackers linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard of orchestrating the earlier French supermarket attacks.

Meanwhile…

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