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BRUGES, Belgium, Nov 4: Hackers who cranked up fridge temperatures at supermarkets across Europe may have gained access through public internet-connected systems protected \u200bby default passwords or outdated software, a cybersecurity expert said.<\/strong><\/p>\n The second cyberattack \u200cin three weeks hit fridge systems at supermarket chains including Carrefour and Delhaize in Belgium, and ICA and Coop in Sweden, forcing retailers to discard spoiled food and raising concerns about food security. \u200bThree blood banks in France were also hit.<\/p>\n Authorities have not publicly disclosed how \u200bthe attackers gained access, and no perpetrator has been identified. \u201cIn this \u200bcase, the weak point was mainly putting those devices on the public internet. They shouldn\u2019t even be there,\u201d he said, speaking from a lab full of servers and systems similar to those \u200bthat could control supermarket store fridges.<\/p>\n A common problem with such systems is that \u200boperators fail to change default passwords set by the manufacturer, while others run older software with \u200cknown vulnerabilities, \u2060he said.<\/p>\n AI was now making it easier for amateurs to pull off hacks, Singier added.<\/p>\n Supermarkets on Tuesday said they had taken hacked fridges offline, in line with guidance from refrigeration monitoring software provider Danfoss, whose systems were again among those targeted. Danfoss has \u200bsaid it is working \u200bwith clients on \u2060fixes.<\/p>\n Singier said that retailers should check they understand how they connect to the store interface, strengthen passwords, and consider switching from internet-based systems \u200bto more secure systems using SIM cards, like those used by solar \u200bpanels and \u2060car chargers.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter this attack, we\u2019ve seen a lot less of these devices publicly on the internet,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you look at the numbers, there\u2019s still a lot of industrial devices \u2060which are \u200bopen to the public, and in a lot \u200bof cases you yourself as the butcher or the chocolatier don\u2019t even know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Laurens Singier, \u2060an ethical hacker and researcher at Cyber 3 Lab, part of Howest University of Applied Sciences in \u200bBruges, Belgium, said internet-connected systems which can be accessible remotely often have weak protections.<\/p>\n