Someone thousands of miles away could change the temperature of a freezer holding critical medical supplies. If no one catches it in time, those supplies could become unusable.
That risk is no longer theoretical. In October, attackers manipulated refrigeration controllers at roughly 700 supermarkets in France, forcing equipment into defrost cycles and causing food losses.
On November 2, attackers also changed settings at three French blood-storage facilities. Monitoring alerted staff, who acted before any blood products were lost.
On November 5, CISA, the FBI, and the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and Transportation issued joint guidance urging organizations to secure industrial refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems.
On November 9, France attributed the October attacks to an Iranian cyber unit. For federal agencies and critical infrastructure operators, the concern is not limited to refrigeration.
Outside suppliers may have remote access to equipment that protects food, medicine and other essential services. Organizations should identify who can access these systems, remove unnecessary internet connections, check for unauthorized changes, confirm security updates and test how staff respond when temperatures or settings change.
Fortress Information Security helps organizations identify supplier dependencies, assess exposure, and track corrective actions through verification.
Finding the risk is only the beginning. Confirming that it has been addressed is what protects operations.
If a supplier’s remote access was compromised tomorrow, would you know which operations were at risk and who was responsible for securing them?