Pentagon probes refrigerator malfunctions in France and the US — Fortune

The Pentagon is investigating whether malfunctions of refrigeration systems in French supermarkets and US military stores could have resulted from a cyberattack. In August, similar problems occurred at about six military stores in the United States, while last month temperatures in refrigerators and freezers rose at hundreds of supermarkets in France, Fortune reports. There is currently no official evidence that these incidents are connected.

New disruptions in European countries

On the night before Monday, around 20 refrigeration systems at Delhaize, Carrefour and Spar supermarkets in Belgium malfunctioned. Stéphane Moelans, CEO of Sabcobel, a company that installs refrigeration equipment, told Belga that technicians began work at 1 a.m. and disconnected the affected equipment from the network.

Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet also reported similar disruptions at ICA and Coop stores in Sweden, as well as in Luxembourg and Estonia. One Swedish ICA Kvantum Sjöbo store said on Facebook that its refrigerators and freezers broke down overnight and that the equipment temperature was set to 50 degrees Celsius. The store said it therefore had to dispose of products.

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Losses and network vulnerability

In France, the previous wave of incidents affected 80 Carrefour stores, around 24 Monoprix stores and 150 Intermarché stores. The temperature increase led to food spoilage and small fires. According to local outlet Sud Ouest, Intermarché and E.Leclerc jointly reported approximately €270,000 in losses.

Cybersecurity experts interviewed by the publication note that internet-connected refrigeration systems may be vulnerable to external interference. Nadia Kostyuk, a lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Strategy and Technology, stressed that security is often not a top priority in the development of such devices. ICA said its central systems were not affected: the disruptions impacted a limited number of stores that used an external supplier with a network outside the company's main network.