Hackers raise fridges to 50C across seven European countries

Cyberattackers remotely raised the thermostats of supermarket refrigerators and freezers in seven European countries earlier this week. In some cases, the internal temperatures climbed to 50C. The incident forced businesses to discard spoiled inventory and prompted a review of how critical infrastructure interacts with the internet.

The disruption to food storage coincided with a series of aviation incidents. On Thursday, at least 25 commercial flights across Europe faced hoax bomb threats. Some aircraft made emergency landings, while others were diverted for security sweeps. A similar pattern emerged on Tuesday, when seven planes were searched or changed course following malicious alerts. Investigators have not yet identified the actors behind these disruptions.

Dan Sabbagh, the defense and security editor for The Guardian, noted that airlines receive bomb threats daily. He described the current volume as extraordinary if the public were aware of the baseline frequency. However, aviation experts told The Guardian that the fact carriers treated the recent threats as credible suggests a potential level of coordination among the attackers.

The timing of these events aligns with heightened scrutiny of aviation security following a recent incident with a flydubai flight. During that event, a pilot neutralized a colleague with a knife in what appeared to be an attempt to crash a plane heading to Tel Aviv. This background of tension has made operators more sensitive to anomalies in their operations.

Security experts view the fridge hack as part of a wider shift in hybrid warfare. Since 2022, European states have experienced increasing acts of sabotage that are attributed to Russia but remain below the threshold for a military response. Two months ago, police uncovered a plot to attack RAF Fairford, which they believe was organized by a handler working for Iran. These actions aim to disrupt support for Ukraine by creating a pervasive sense of vulnerability.

Dan Milmo, the global technology editor, interviewed a fruit and vegetable wholesaler near Heathrow whose frages failed on Monday. The business owner responded by adding canned goods to his shopping list. Milmo stated that there are typically only two likely candidates for such hacks: criminal gangs or nation states. He added an emerging third category of troublesome teenagers, citing the case of Scattered Spider. Two members of that group were jailed in July for their attack on Transport for London.

A cybersecurity researcher told Milmo that attacks on dummy Danfoss fridge controls shared characteristics with operations linked to Russia. The Danfoss software system was also targeted in mainland Europe. This suggests a methodical approach to exploiting edge devices. These are networked items connected to the internet that lack the processing power to be primary targets for security upgrades.

Aisha Down, a global technology reporter, explained that cyberattacks are opportunistic. Hackers must find a vulnerability and then exploit it. She compared the process to a burglary, where entering a room with valuable items does not guarantee the damage that will occur. However, the frequency of such events is rising. In Finland, reports to the national cybersecurity center grew from 18,000 last year to 21,000 this year, despite a population of only 6 million.

One European cybersecurity official told Down that a vulnerability exists in every 1,500 lines of code on average. The official argued that while attacks are inevitable and opportunistic, they will not keep citizens offline for months. This perspective contrasts with the UK government's Be Ready initiative. That program advises residents to stockpile 72 hours of emergency supplies, including water and non-perishable foods, to offset threats from hybrid warfare.

Sabbagh acknowledged the psychological impact of these threats. He said that if the purpose of terrorism is to generate fear, the first response should be to remain calm. He added that for a government planning to spend an extra £10 billion on defense by the end of the decade, encouraging citizens to keep water at home serves a practical purpose. MI5 currently tracks about 3,000 active subjects of interest, with a focus on threats to life and serious activities.