A series of cyberattacks against refrigeration installations in Europe caused material damage and raised questions about the security of industrial systems managed over the internet. The affected sites include supermarkets, a meat-processing plant in Germany and equipment used by the French blood donation service, the German public broadcaster ARD reports via Tagesschau.
In the German state of Bavaria, hackers infiltrated the control systems of refrigerated rooms at a meat-processing plant and changed the temperature settings to 150 degrees Celsius. According to police, the damage amounted to a five-figure sum in EUR.
A similar incident was reported in France, where the temperature settings of three refrigeration installations used to store blood products were changed from minus 30 to 110 degrees. The attack was detected in time and did not result in the blood supplies being compromised.
In recent days, cyberattacks have also affected supermarkets in Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Estonia, Finland and the Netherlands. The victims include retail chains such as Carrefour, Delhaize, SPAR, ICA and Coop. In some stores, temperatures in the refrigeration systems reached 50 degrees, making it necessary to destroy large quantities of food products.
According to experts, the main problem is the insufficient protection of systems for remotely controlling equipment. Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) recommends restricting direct access via the internet, using secure VPN connections, two-factor authentication and regularly updating software.
The cases demonstrate the growing risks businesses face from cyberattacks against internet-connected equipment, which can lead not only to data loss but also to production disruptions and significant financial damage.