The U.S. government has issued a warning that cyber threat risks targeting industrial refrigeration and freezing systems remain persistent.

In a statement released on November 5 local time, the U.S. administration stated that entities operating refrigerated and frozen storage facilities must prepare under the assumption that these facilities could become targets of hacking.

In a joint statement, federal agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) under the Department of Homeland Security, along with federal departments related to health, transportation, and agriculture, warned that hackers are exploiting security vulnerabilities in internet-connected electronic thermostats and commercial refrigeration control devices used by grocery retailers and refrigerated storage facilities.

They expressed concern that "if hackers exploit these vulnerabilities, they could alter temperatures [in refrigeration and freezing facilities], which could lead to physical damage such as fire hazards, loss of stored goods, and shortened equipment lifespans."

Chris Butera, Acting Deputy Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity at CISA, stated, "All organizations that rely on refrigeration, freezing, and temperature monitoring systems must assume they could be targets."

Operators of industrial refrigeration and freezing control systems were urged to disconnect related equipment from the public internet, isolate them from corporate internal networks, and promptly perform software security updates.

This statement comes amid a series of recent hacking attacks targeting commercial refrigeration facilities in the United States and Europe.

According to a report by Reuters last week, the U.S. Department of Defense is investigating a series of unexplained malfunctions that occurred in August at refrigeration and freezing equipment in grocery stores at U.S. military bases, treating them as cyber attacks.

Last month in France, hackers raised the temperatures of refrigeration and freezing equipment in hundreds of supermarkets, causing fires and the disposal of massive amounts of food.

Estimates showed that damages could reach tens of millions of euros.

On November 2, similar incidents occurred at supermarkets in several European countries, including Sweden, Belgium, and Luxembourg. On the same day, cyber attacks that abnormally raised temperature settings on refrigeration equipment also occurred at three facilities affiliated with the French blood management agency.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)