The Pentagon is currently investigating a series of mysterious failures affecting freezers at military bases across the United States, which resulted in food spoilage. This investigation, which began in August, is being treated as a potential cyberattack, according to four officials familiar with the matter, as reported by Reuters.
One official noted that military investigators have reached out to their French counterparts regarding a similar cyberattack that impacted commercial refrigerators in France, disrupting supermarket operations earlier this month.
Reuters has reported that the Pentagon’s investigation status remains unclear, including whether any conclusions have been drawn regarding the incidents or possible perpetrators. The Pentagon stated that the Cyber Command unit, the US military’s cyber force, is “working closely with interagency partners and law enforcement” but did not provide further details.
The US Army Criminal Investigation Division confirmed that its Cyber Security Field Office is involved in the investigation and is collaborating with French law enforcement to better understand the “disruptions of refrigeration systems in Europe.”
The failures, which occurred at the end of August, affected at least six stores within military bases where personnel purchase food. Analysis of Facebook posts and updates from military base websites during that time revealed that in at least one instance, the freezers did not simply stop functioning; the cooling units’ temperatures rose overnight, leading to significant amounts of spoiled or melted food by morning.
The Fort Huachuca base in Arizona reported on August 26 that its military freezer had “entered defrost mode, thus warming all the food. Believe us when we say it was ‘ruined’.”
The unusual behavior of the freezers and the possibility of cyber sabotage were first highlighted on August 28 by a newly created blog named “Signal and Silence.” The involvement of military investigators and their contact with French officials was reported by the “Stars and Stripes” and the British “Daily Telegraph.” The classification of the incident as a possible cyberattack marks the latest development in this ongoing situation.
The French Embassy in Washington has stated that it will not comment on the matter.
French Supermarket Refrigerators Heated to 50 Degrees Celsius
If confirmed as a cyberattack, the malfunctioning of the refrigerators would highlight how vulnerable critical infrastructures, particularly refrigeration systems, can be to hackers.
The cyberattack on freezers in France compromised temperature control systems in over 350 refrigeration units, resulting in dramatic scenes as supermarket shelves were emptied of spoiled goods, leading to waste disposal.
The French attack involved raising the internal temperatures of the refrigerators to 50 degrees Celsius instead of simply disabling them, akin to what occurred at Fort Huachuca. In some instances in France, the temperatures were raised so high that they caused fires. The total cost of the attack in France could reach tens of millions of euros nationally, as estimated by a supermarket owner earlier this month.
Experts previously stated that the cyberattack in France appeared to be relatively easy to execute. Danish company Danfoss, whose controllers managed many of the affected units, noted that many devices were outdated or running obsolete firmware, which could have facilitated hackers’ access. Reuters could not determine if the affected US bases used Danfoss controllers or those from other brands for their freezers. Danfoss did not respond to inquiries for comment.
Nightmare Scenario
Refrigeration is crucial for the distribution of fresh food, and sabotaging storage facilities via the internet has long been considered a nightmare scenario alongside electricity or water supply disruptions.
Earlier this year, the Global Food Safety Initiative, an industry body, called on food safety professionals and IT leaders to collaborate to ensure robust “cybersecurity” for refrigeration technology, emphasizing that “a hacked cooling system is as dangerous as a malfunctioning one.”
Hackers have previously targeted refrigerators and freezers in both the United States and worldwide.
Danfoss reported that in 2022, hackers targeted or infiltrated supermarkets in Russia and Israel that utilized outdated versions of its refrigeration controllers. In December of the previous year, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles charged a Ukrainian woman for being part of a hacking group that disabled the refrigeration system of a meat processing plant in 2024, destroying over 2,000 pounds of meat.
The underlying issue is that controllers, originally designed as isolated interfaces to be maintained by on-site technicians, are increasingly connected to the internet, according to Bill Moore, CEO of industrial cybersecurity firm Xona Systems. Concerns regarding online exposure are not limited to cooling systems, he said, but in this case could have particularly severe consequences.
“It can certainly disrupt the food supply chain,” he stated.
