The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is urging UK retailers to update and patch their refrigeration software following a wave of cyber attacks targeting supermarket chillers and freezers across Europe.
Hackers have been remotely gaining access to internet-connected refrigeration controllers by exploiting unpatched, exposed, login pages on the open internet rather than private, protected networks.
Impact on food supplies
Attackers have forced fridge and freezer units into continuous defrost or high-temperature cycles, in some cases pushing temperatures to around 50°C, which has destroyed tons of fresh and frozen food across several European countries including Ireland, Belgium and France.
No widespread disruptions have been officially confirmed in UK stores yet, but some meat processors have reported temperature spikes.
Official response and recommendations
NCSC's director for national resilience Jonathon Ellison and chief executive Dr Richard Horne have called on retail leaders to immediately audit their operational technology (OT) environments, apply outstanding software patches and firmware updates, and disconnect direct, unprotected internet exposure from cooling systems.
