US warns of 'ongoing cyber threat' to industrial refrigeration systems

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A woman walks with her shopping trolley past partially empty shelves at a SuperValu store in Blanchardstown, Dublin, Ireland, November 2, 2026. Ireland's third-largest supermarket chain, SuperValu, said on Monday that refrigeration systems limited to a specific model in 13 of its 223 stores have been affected by a cyber incident, with chilled and frozen products removed from sale. REUTERS/Natalia Campos
FILE PHOTO: A monitor shows an interface simulating a hacking attack on a refrigeration system at Cyber 3 Lab, part of Howest University of Applied Sciences in Bruges, Belgium, November 4, 2026. REUTERS/Zoran Mikletic/File Photo

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WASHINGTON, Nov 5 : The United States is warning of an "ongoing cyber threat" to industrial refrigeration systems, saying in a statement issued Thursday that every organization that depends on cold storage should assume it could fall into the hackers' crosshairs.

The statement said that unidentified "malicious cyber actors" were targeting vulnerabilities in internet-accessible electronic temperature and commercial refrigeration controllers in retail grocery 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," said the statement, which was issued by the FBI, the cyber defense agency CISA, and other government departments.

"Every organization that depends on refrigeration and monitoring systems should assume it could be a target," said Chris Butera, CISA's acting executive assistant director for cybersecurity.

Source: Reuters

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