Second wave of refrigeration cyberattacks hits European supermarkets
Three weeks after the attack that turned refrigeration units in French supermarkets into ovens overnight, similar cyberattacks have hit shops in other European countries and again caused refrigerated food to be spoiled.
Three weeks after the attack that turned refrigeration units in French supermarkets into ovens overnight, similar cyberattacks have hit shops in other European countries and again caused refrigerated food to be spoiled.
[In Belgium,] fridges and freezers have been affected at Delhaize, Carrefour and Spar, among others.
The attackers remotely switched the units’ evaporators to defrost mode, causing the fridges to warm up, Belgian news agency Belga reported today.
Stephan Moelans, CEO of Sabcobel, a Belgian company that manufactures and installs industrial refrigeration equipment, told the agency that the attack started around midnight on Sunday, and that its technicians have been working After the attack in France, most of its customers switched to managing the fridges over a secure internet connection, he added, and said that for a thorough fix of the vulnerability that allowed the attack, in addition to a software update, the refrigeration units have to be physically modified.
Delhaize supermarkets have also been hit in Luxembourg, RTL Today reported.
In Sweden, the Coop and Ica chains have been affected: the temperature on their freezers was turned up to 50 degrees (Celsius), The Local said .
An Ica spokesperson told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that a small number of stores that were affected.
The attack was made possible by remotely exploitable vulnerabilities in the monitoring systems’ internet-exposed management interfaces.
I’ve confirmed with folks the impacted freezers in the countries impacted today are all [management] interface facing internet, same issue and vuln as last time.
Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available, they’ve just been left online to quite literally rot, security researcher Kevin Beaumont commented today.
What happened
Three weeks after the attack that turned refrigeration units in French supermarkets into ovens overnight, similar cyberattacks have hit shops in other European countries and again caused refrigerated food to be spoiled.
[In Belgium,] fridges and freezers have been affected at Delhaize, Carrefour and Spar, among others.
The attackers remotely switched the units’ evaporators to defrost mode, causing the fridges to warm up, Belgian news agency Belga reported today.
What changed
Stephan Moelans, CEO of Sabcobel, a Belgian company that manufactures and installs industrial refrigeration equipment, told the agency that the attack started around midnight on Sunday, and that its technicians have been working After the attack in France, most of its customers switched to managing the fridges over a secure internet connection, he added, and said that for a thorough fix of the vulnerability that allowed the attack, in addition to a software update, the refrigeration units have to be physically modified.
Delhaize supermarkets have also been hit in Luxembourg, RTL Today reported.
Who is affected
In Sweden, the Coop and Ica chains have been affected: the temperature on their freezers was turned up to 50 degrees (Celsius), The Local said .
An Ica spokesperson told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that a small number of stores that were affected.
Why it matters
The attack was made possible by remotely exploitable vulnerabilities in the monitoring systems’ internet-exposed management interfaces.
I’ve confirmed with folks the impacted freezers in the countries impacted today are all [management] interface facing internet, same issue and vuln as last time.
Response
Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available, they’ve just been left online to quite literally rot, security researcher Kevin Beaumont commented today.
What remains unknown
Supermarket chains Colruyt and Intermarche confirmed that they have had technical problems at some of their stores, but did not say it was because of a cyberattack.
As with the October attack, it’s still unclear who is behind these latest ones.
Attribution
Help Net Security: Three weeks after the attack that turned refrigeration units in French supermarkets into ovens overnight, similar cyberattacks have hit shops in other European countries and again caused refrigerated food to be spoiled.
What to watch next
Watch for revised vendor guidance, fixed versions and mitigation updates.