Hackers Are Targeting Commercial Fridges: US Agencies Warn of Spoiled Stock and Fire Risks

A joint advisory from several US agencies, including CISA, the FBI, HHS, USDA and the Department of Transportation, warns that threat actors are actively targeting industrial refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems around the world. The aim is to cause service disruption, fire hazards and loss of inventory. These systems protect food, medicine and other temperature-sensitive goods, which makes them attractive targets.

According to the advisory, attackers may exploit vulnerabilities or weaknesses in unpatched or internet-accessible controllers. They can then change settings remotely and force units into continuous heating and defrost cycles. The agencies say likely methods include authentication bypasses, arbitrary code injection and weak configurations.

The threat is already real. In recent weeks, hundreds of supermarkets across Europe were hit after attackers exploited internet-accessible refrigeration controllers. Temperatures were raised, in some cases to as high as 50 degrees Celsius, or cooling units were forced into defrost mode, spoiling food and causing financial losses. Victims ranged from major chains to small grocers and butchers in countries including Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the U.K.

Owners and operators are urged to use strong authentication, keep systems updated, find any systems reachable from the internet, isolate operational technology devices, change default passwords, replace legacy devices, and remove unnecessary remote access while securing any that is needed.