Supermarket refrigeration systems hacked across Europe
For the freezers hacked in several European countries, the default password had been “known for a long time”. Mirko Ross, CEO of asvin, explained this in an interview with ORF. The password was documented online, and the attackers only had to use it. No state-level expertise was needed: ordinary hackers could carry out these attacks too.
ORF wanted to know why such incidents are piling up right now.
The answer: the cyber threat landscape is getting worse, and artificial intelligence plays a major part in this. With AI, attackers find vulnerabilities very quickly and use AI for the attacks themselves as well. On top of that, more and more devices are connected to the internet, so the attack surface keeps growing, “because not all devices are very well protected“.
Vandals, activists, extortionists
Who is behind the attacks is still unclear. Possible culprits include hackers who enjoy breaking things, politically motivated hacktivists and criminals out to extort money. State actors are also possible, as in the US, where military freezers were hacked. Even media coverage of the attacks creates uncertainty, and state-backed hackers could have an interest in that too, as part of information warfare.
According to the asvin CEO, the real problem is outdated firmware that can no longer be updated. The hardware then has to be replaced, and if need be the entire refrigeration unit. With thousands of devices affected, that cannot happen overnight.
Luck alone is no protection
Austria has not been affected so far. The interview has a clear message on this:
“Be glad that Austria has not been affected so far. But that does not protect you from being hit in the future. These devices have been sold in large numbers, and there will certainly be devices in Austria that potentially present an attack surface. But if the operators, the supermarket chains, take the right precautions, isolate the devices, disconnect them and stop making them so easily accessible from the internet, then the devices may still have potential vulnerabilities, but hackers cannot access them from outside.”
It does not stop at the supermarket shelf, either. Household appliances can be affected too. There are current reports of attacks on smart TVs: attackers take control of the televisions and use them to attack companies. According to the latest report, one attacker has linked up millions of smart TVs worldwide.
What this means for consumers is explained in the full interview.
Watch the interview on ORF:
Konrad Buck
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