Cyber attacks on refrigeration equipment have spread to more countries in Europe. Reports of incidents have come from at least 12 countries: Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Romania. However, not all of these cases have been independently confirmed as cyber attacks. Information about similar events in Poland, Norway and the UK was also researched. The attackers gain remote access to the control systems of the cooling equipment and change the temperature settings. In some cases, the equipment is transferred to the defrosting mode, which leads to an increase in temperature and spoilage of products. Among the businesses affected are stores belonging to large European retail chains, small grocery stores and food processing facilities. What stands out in these incidents is that the targets are not traditional IT systems, but industrial equipment connected to remote control networks. The alleged vulnerability lies in Internet-connected cooling controllers, which allow technicians to monitor temperatures and perform remote maintenance. A hacked controller may allow an attacker to: 1. Change temperature settings, causing refrigerated products to heat up beyond safe storage limits.
2. Run or extend defrost cycles, which can raise cabinet temperatures.
3. Disable or enable temperature alarms, detection delay.
4. Interfere with multiple installations if they share a compromised remote management platform. The particularly worrisome scenario is a coordinated attack against hundreds of refrigeration units via a service provider or shared management system. The lack of reported ransom demands raises the possibility of deliberate economic sabotage. As usual, Russia-related involvement is suspected, but no official charges have yet been filed.