Freezers of UK meat suppliers heat up after cyber-attacks in Europe

Cybersecurity experts say incidents had minimal effect but may represent the ‘foothills’ of a wider threat

Freezers of UK meat suppliers heat up after cyber-attacks in Europe

TL;DR

  • UK meat suppliers have been affected by cyber-attacks that raised temperatures in European supermarket freezers.
  • The NCSC stated the national impact is minimal but is monitoring the situation and working with affected companies.
  • Cybersecurity experts observed characteristics similar to Russia-linked operations and warned of an enlarged cyber threat.
  • Attacks on dummy fridge controls used default passwords and 'bulletproof' hosting, tactics associated with Russian-linked malicious operations.
  • Some UK meat suppliers reported their units heating up to 100C or defrosting, though no produce was lost as units were empty.