Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,
Federal agencies warned Thursday that hackers are targeting refrigeration systems used to store food and medicine, urging businesses to secure vulnerable controls amid attacks that could spoil supplies and damage equipment.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI, and the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture and Transportation described the ongoing malicious activity as targeting unpatched or internet-accessible temperature and commercial refrigeration controllers.
The systems are widely used in healthcare, chemical, food and agriculture, and transportation operations.
In a fact sheet, officials said successful attacks could allow hackers to alter temperatures, force units into continuous heating or defrost cycles, and create risks including inventory loss, equipment damage, and potential fire hazards.
"Every organization that depends on refrigeration and monitoring systems should assume it could be a target," Chris Butera, CISA's acting executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement.
He urged operators to review the guidance and close known security gaps.
FBI Cyber Branch Operations Director Brett Leatherman said the agency is seeing the systems targeted across critical infrastructure sectors globally.
"These systems protect food, medicine and other temperature-sensitive products, m
