In a single night, attackers got into the refrigeration controls at hundreds of supermarkets in France and switched the fridges into defrost mode. According to The Guardian, outlets of Intermarche and Cooperative U were hit, temperatures rose to as high as 50C, and the Paris prosecutor’s office reported food losses and fires. There are fears that some Dutch chains were affected too.
A spokesperson for one chain told Bloomberg that about six hours passed before staff noticed, and by then all the food in the affected cabinets was ruined. BleepingComputer reports that the attack appears to have targeted Danfoss refrigeration controllers. It is not yet clear how the attackers got in, and investigators have not said who was responsible.
Why this matters to a small business
This was not a stolen password or a locked laptop. It was ordinary equipment that happens to be connected to the internet. Many Sydney businesses have similar gear: coolrooms, display fridges, air conditioning, alarm panels, security cameras and building controls. These are often set up by a contractor for remote monitoring and then forgotten.
If someone can reach those controls from the internet, they can do physical damage and cost you stock, not just data.
Practical steps
- List what is connected. Ask your refrigeration, HVAC and security contractors which of your devices can be reached remotely, and how.
- Change default passwords on any controller or web panel, and remove accounts for staff or contractors who no longer need them.
- Keep equipment off the open internet. Remote access should go through a secure VPN or the vendor’s managed portal, not an open port.
- Separate it from your office network so a compromised device cannot reach your PCs and files.
- Set up alerts. A temperature alarm that texts a manager after hours would have turned six hours of losses into minutes.
- Ask about updates. Controllers need firmware patches like any computer.
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