U.S. FBI and regulators issue warning about cyber-attacks targeting industrial refrigerators

A notice informing customers that refrigerators are temporarily out of service is displayed on an empty case at the Delhaize Shop & Go store after an overnight IT incident | Photo Credit: REUTERS The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and government regulators on Thursday (November 5, 2026) issued a warning about cyber-attacks targeting industrial coolers and fridges.The warning acknowledged that hackers were targeting vulnerabilities in unpatched or internet-linked refrigeration controllers in retail grocery and cold storage facilities.Gaining control of these systems would enable hackers to adjust temperatures to dangerous extremes or run unauthorised defrost cycles, leading to the spoilage of inventory or even fire hazards.The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Department of Transportation (DOT) warned organisations about “ongoing cyber threat activity targeting industrial refrigeration and cold chain monitoring systems.”The U.S. FBI-issued factsheet recommended that organisations with cold storage facilities de-link control system devices from the internet, enhance password security, apply patches to keep systems updated, and replace legacy devices that no longer receive security updates.The notice came shortly after cyber attacks led to huge amounts of food waste across European supermarket franchises, where some fridge temperatures were raised as high as 50 degrees Celsius in October.Food and produce had to be thrown out at a mass scale, along with large quantities of melted ice.The perpetrators behind the attacks have not yet been identified or apprehended.“Industrial refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems protect food, medicine, and other temperature-sensitive products, making them attractive targets for malicious cyber actors. We are seeing these systems targeted across critical infrastructure sectors globally, putting inventory and equipment at risk,” said FBI Cyber Branch Operations Director Brett Leatherman. Published - November 07, 2026 01:14 pm IST