The UK has also been affected by cyber-attacks targeting supermarket refrigeration systems, according to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Its chief executive, Dr Richard Horne, said the agency knew of “a couple of instances” in which vulnerable technology had been exploited in the country.
Horne told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the NCSC had worked through the night to alert organisations that might be affected. He said it had contacted a handful of bodies and was aware of a couple of impacts.
The reports follow incidents on Monday in which supermarkets in Ireland, Sweden, Estonia and Belgium said the temperature in their fridges had been raised. Earlier, attacks targeting supermarkets and food suppliers in France in early October affected hundreds of stores and spoiled fresh and frozen food estimated to be worth millions of euros.
The attacks exploited vulnerabilities in systems used to remotely control and manage refrigeration units. Those weaknesses had been identified by cybersecurity researchers months earlier. Horne said it was too early to determine who was behind the latest attacks.
He called on organisations to secure and update the technology they rely on, saying some businesses had continued using systems beyond their end of life, failed to upgrade them, or left them connected to the internet rather than keeping them in secure compartments. Horne also warned that adversaries could find and exploit vulnerabilities more quickly with AI.
Sources: BBC News UK.