European Retail Freezing Systems Under Attack
Recently, freezing and freezer systems in European food retail channels faced an unusual wave of cyberattacks. Attackers exploited security weaknesses in the connected systems, including weak password mechanisms, leading to spoilage of large quantities of food, equipment damage, and disruption of operations at some companies, highlighting vulnerabilities in IoT-connected systems and the potential threat to industries relying on similar infrastructure.
Weak Passwords and Known Vulnerabilities Provide Entry Point
Yaron Kassner, co-founder and CTO of cybersecurity company Silverfort, pointed out that passwords for many of the hacked freezing units were generated from dates rather than stronger strings. This known vulnerability had existed for 19 months, yet many retailers failed to patch it in time, effectively making themselves targets. He stressed that when we connect freezers to the Internet, far more can happen than imagined. The UK National Cyber Security Centre had previously warned that old security vulnerabilities are often exploited.
Retail Attacks Up Nearly 140%
According to data from cybersecurity company Imperva, cyberattacks on the global retail sector grew sharply by nearly 140% over the past year, with attacks across industries in France up 65%. Nadav Avital, CTO for AI and Application Security at Thales Group, which owns Imperva, said that sometimes outdated equipment, Internet-exposed management interfaces, default passwords and unpatched vulnerabilities are enough to cause serious consequences. When the target is freezing systems for food or medical samples, the impact is not limited to the digital realm but can cause major physical losses.
Risk Rises for Israel's Critical Facilities
Experts warn that Israeli industry also relies on similar connected freezing, control and operational systems, so this successful case in Europe may encourage other attackers to copy it. Kassner stressed that assuming a similar incident will not happen in Israel is a mistaken assumption, and called on local companies to face up to these vulnerabilities. He said the attack was not necessarily operated by artificial intelligence, but AI already has the full capability to carry out such attacks, and in the future more malicious actors or lone actors may disrupt food supply chains or even attack more sensitive critical systems. He advised organizations to inventory their Internet-exposed operational systems, change default passwords, limit maintenance vendors' access, and monitor abnormal configuration changes. The National Cyber Security Authority also advised retailers to update refrigerator software or disconnect them from the Internet to maintain food safety and protect critical infrastructure.