Supermarket cyberattacks: why refrigeration control systems are an easy target

It started with the cooling systems of French supermarkets. Now German retailers have been hit as well. In an article on tagesschau.de, the ARD finance desk asks why refrigerated shelves are so easy to hack, and speaks to Mirko Ross, CEO of asvin.

He names the core problem:

“Generally speaking, these control systems are widely installed, and many of them can also be reached via the internet.” The reason is practical. The systems can be maintained remotely, so no technician needs to be on site.

Losses running into millions in France

France shows how costly this can get. “Refrigerated counters were successfully attacked across the country, and chilled goods worth several million euros were destroyed,” says the asvin CEO. He also warns: “The problem is that the affected thermostats are installed all over the world.”

The retail association speaks of “isolated cases” without significant damage. Security experts, however, see an urgent need for action. In the article, Dennis-Kenji Kipker of the Cyberintelligence Institute recommends taking the controllers off the open internet and allowing remote access only through secure connections.

The attacks don’t stop at the supermarket either. According to Mirko Ross, 1.3 million TV sets have already been hacked worldwide. His conclusion: “So these cyberattacks are hitting ever closer to home.”

Read the full article on tagesschau.de:

https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/verbraucher/hacker-kuehlsysteme-supermaerkte-100.html

Cooling systems are easy to hack - Mirko Ross explains why in this article on Tagesschau.de
Konrad Buck

Konrad Buck

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