The Pentagon is reportedly investigating a series of late-August freezer and refrigeration malfunctions at U.S. military base commissaries as a suspected cyberattack.
Cooling units and freezers at some military commissaries unexpectedly switched into defrost or heating mode overnight, melting and spoiling large quantities of food.
At least seven U.S. military bases were affected: Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Fort Irwin in California, Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island, Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.
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The Pentagon said a unit of Cyber Command was “working in close coordination with interagency and law enforcement partners” amid the probe, Reuters reported.
U.S. food markets aren’t the only ones affected. The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division said its Cyber Field Office is teaming up with French law enforcement to understand “the refrigeration outages in Europe.”
Attackers overrode the temperature controls on commercial cooling units in more than 350 French supermarkets overnight earlier this month.
The units were forced into a defrost cycle that raised temperatures to as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Meat, frozen items and vegetables had to be thrown out. Some units overheated and caught fire.
Danfoss, the Danish maker of many of the controllers, said most of the affected units were older models that no longer receive security updates.
Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation. Neither French authorities nor Danfoss have said who carried out the attack or how the attackers got in.
The Fort Huachuca Facebook account said on Aug. 26 that its freezer “went into defrost mode where it heated up all the food.”
“Trust us when we say it was ’spoiled,’” it added.
The account also reposted the Reuters article, which first reported that the investigation is being treated as a suspected cyberattack.
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