Why are hackers targeting freezers? Before France, US military likely faced similar attack

Hackers attacked refrigerators at supermarkets in France a few weeks ago in a cyberattack, causing losses that ran into tens of millions of euros. Now a report suggests that the United States may have also fallen victim to a similar incident in August. The Pentagon is investigating whether freezer failures at US military commissaries were a possible cyberattack. In France, hackers took control of freezers at nearly 700 supermarkets and increased their temperatures to 50°C–80°C overnight. This led to widespread food spoilage, damaged equipment and fires. Millions of euros worth of fresh and frozen food had to be thrown out. Local news reports suggest that two supermarkets - Intermarché and E.Leclerc - lost a combined €270,000 to about $300,000.

Are the US and France refrigerator attacks linked?

There is no official word on whether the freezer attacks in the US and France were the work of the same group. There is also no confirmation on whether the US military commissary freezer failures. However, having similar attacks within a difference of around two months has triggered suspicion that they could be connected.

Also Read: French supermarkets hacked: Fridges heat to 50 C, spoiling food and causing fires

Why do hackers target refrigerators?

The question now arises: why would hackers attack freezers? How does that serve any purpose? Experts say that this is a way to cause financial losses to a country. When food is spoiled in massive quantities, that means losses that run into millions. That spells a major economic hit for the affected country. The physical sabotage, unlike stealing critical data like credit card details, also caused fires.

Security analysts highlight that targeting supply chains is a way to demonstrate how fragile interconnected public infrastructure can be. Besides instant financial loss, it also causes operational chaos and high-visibility disruption.

How were the commercial freezers hacked?

Supermarkets rely on internet-connected refrigeration management systems that are mostly managed remotely by third parties. These are used to monitor temperatures, run diagnostics, and ensure food safety compliance. Most of these web-enabled controllers were directly accessible via the public internet. Weak or factory-default credentials lead them to become soft targets.