Pentagon investigates suspected cyberattack on military base and French supermarket freezers
Freezers at commissaries of at least six US military bases, from Arizona to Rhode Island, switched to defrost mode in August and spoiled food; all frozen food at Fort Huachuca was lost. The Pentagon is treating the case as a suspected cyberattack, Reuters reported on October 29, and is investigating with French police, who are probing a similar attack on more than 350 supermarkets in France in October, with display cases at 122 degrees and some catching fire; European authorities are investigating ongoing attacks. Restrict remote access to refrigeration controls and monitor abnormal defrost cycles.
What happened
Freezers at commissaries of at least six US military bases switched to defrost mode in August and the food spoiled; all frozen food at Fort Huachuca was lost. The Pentagon is treating the case as a suspected cyberattack, per Reuters, and is investigating with French police. In October, a similar attack hit more than 350 French supermarkets, with display cases at 122 degrees and some units catching fire.
Why it matters
Connected refrigeration equipment was manipulated remotely over the internet, causing food loss and fires, as seen in France. The case shows that internet-linked operational systems, even inside military bases, can be hacked and disrupt operations and supplies. European authorities are investigating ongoing attacks on supermarket freezers.
What to do
Restrict remote access to refrigeration controllers and require strong authentication for those connections. Monitor abnormal defrost cycles and out-of-pattern temperatures, with immediate alerts to operations. Check with refrigeration vendors whether these controls have multifactor authentication and network segmentation.
For the technical team
- Affected
- Sistemas de refrigeração dos comissariatos de bases militares dos EUA e de mais de 350 supermercados franceses, com temperaturas dos freezers elevadas deliberadamente · Commissaries at at least six US military bases, from Arizona to Rhode Island, including Fort Huachuca; more than 350 French supermarkets. Reports say the wave reached Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Vendors and models were not named.
- Exploitation
- Exploitation reported: Reuters (October 29), citing four officials, says the Pentagon treats the failures as a suspected cyberattack and is investigating with French police. No official attribution to any group or country in the sources.
- Fix
- No product fix cited in the sources. Mitigation: restrict remote access to refrigeration controllers and monitor abnormal defrost cycles.
- Vector
- Freezer refrigeration controllers reachable remotely over the internet; attackers took over the controllers, ran the defrost cycle without stopping and raised the temperature. In France, display cases reached 122 degrees and some caught fire.
- More details
- US Army criminal investigators put their cyber office on the case and US Cyber Command has joined. Fort Huachuca hosts Army intelligence and the command that runs the Army's networks; the post itself said its freezers went into defrost mode and heated up all the food. In at least one store the cold was not cut: the temperature was cranked up. One social media post alleges Iranian attribution and another cites 14 bases; one post cites at least seven bases. None of these counts or attributions is officially confirmed in the sources.
Timeline
European authorities are probing the ongoing refrigerator attacks; US military investigators are working with French agencies after hacks hit domestic bases.
Reports add freezer failures at Arizona and Rhode Island bases in August and the wave reaching Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Social media post cites 14 US military bases with sabotaged food storage freezers under Pentagon investigation.
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This batch adds suspected Iran-linked attribution and details about six base stores hit since late August, with Cyber Command investigating alongside France.
Report adds that at least six commissaries were affected, with food spoiled after a temperature rise in one case, and that the U.S. military is communicating with the French.
New details: over six base stores lost cooling in August and all frozen food at Fort Huachuca spoiled; Army investigators are cooperating with France.
New post reiterates that the freezers were hacked remotely over the internet.
Investigators are working with French police probing a similar freezer attack at 350+ supermarkets, Reuters says.
Reuters, citing four officials, links the case to more than 350 French supermarkets whose freezers were overheated in October, now probed by French law enforcement.
Reports say Pentagon investigators are coordinating with France, where a similar cyberattack manipulated refrigeration controls; the malfunctions hit at least six commissaries in August.
Incident opened.
Sources 10 sources
- @JewelsJonesLive @JewelsJonesLive
- @MarioNawfal @MarioNawfal
- @Nostre_damus @Nostre_damus
- @Megatron_ron @Megatron_ron
- @unusual_whales @unusual_whales
See all 12 sources
- @jd_sauvage @jd_sauvage
- @IntCyberDigest @IntCyberDigest
- @CollinRugg @CollinRugg
- @IntCyberDigest @IntCyberDigest
- @remarks @remarks
- @MarioNawfal @MarioNawfal
- European authorities probe ongoing attacks targeting grocery refrigerators Cybersecurity Dive
