Another point towards "stop making everything a smart thing connected to the internet". Actually this is a BIG point in that argument. Food is one of the most strategic targets in warfare, because...
Another point towards "stop making everything a smart thing connected to the internet".
Actually this is a BIG point in that argument. Food is one of the most strategic targets in warfare, because people literally need it to survive. I don't care if the option to manage the temperatures remotely is convenient, there are times where convience is not worth the risk.
The fact that the affected fridges "were older models whose security software could not be updated to ward off a risk they had identified" shouldn't be a problem that can exist in the first place. Am I interpreting that sentence right, to mean that those fridges are old enough they're no longer supported to receive security updates? How long does it take for a fridge to lose support for security updates? That genuinely feels like planned obsolescence, and a recipe for disaster given many businesses notoriously refuse to replace still-functioning hardware.
I read that as they're old machines that don't have an update mechanism. They shipped with remote management features but not a means to provide internet based updates, because that wasn't as much...
I read that as they're old machines that don't have an update mechanism. They shipped with remote management features but not a means to provide internet based updates, because that wasn't as much of a thing years ago.
The situation is probably less consumer IoT device and more "this industrial equipment can plug in to a router, and a computer on the network is supposed to talk to them." Then someone just gains a point of ingress into that network and can send messages to the connected fridges.
One would assume that a large enough chain has ongoing maintenance contracts for their equipment, for parts and software. If they're just rolling with old, discontinued stuff and buying parts to keep things going, it long since ceased to be the manufacturer's responsibility. Long term support ain't free.
Hundreds of French supermarkets have been hit by a cyber attack that caused their fridges and freezers to heat up, spoiling fresh and frozen food estimated to be worth millions of euros.
Hackers gained control of the software that regulates the temperatures of the refrigeration units, forcing some to warm to 50C (120F) overnight, according to one supermarket chain affected.
This article reminded me of a substack a friend send me a month ago, about a (alleged!) similar cyber attacks on US military installations. AFAIK they are not related in any way other than "fridge...
This article reminded me of a substack a friend send me a month ago, about a (alleged!) similar cyber attacks on US military installations. AFAIK they are not related in any way other than "fridge hacked".
I just can't see any reason you'd need to adjust the temperature? They have 2 jobs, keep it at a specific temperature and change the temperature to another specific temperature for a set period of...
I just can't see any reason you'd need to adjust the temperature?
They have 2 jobs, keep it at a specific temperature and change the temperature to another specific temperature for a set period of time before going back to the lower temperature. I can understand monitoring temperatures or ice levels in case it needs repair or maybe even changing the defrost schedule, but not remote changes to temperature. That should be built into the fridge, hard coded!
Another point towards "stop making everything a smart thing connected to the internet".
Actually this is a BIG point in that argument. Food is one of the most strategic targets in warfare, because people literally need it to survive. I don't care if the option to manage the temperatures remotely is convenient, there are times where convience is not worth the risk.
The fact that the affected fridges "were older models whose security software could not be updated to ward off a risk they had identified" shouldn't be a problem that can exist in the first place. Am I interpreting that sentence right, to mean that those fridges are old enough they're no longer supported to receive security updates? How long does it take for a fridge to lose support for security updates? That genuinely feels like planned obsolescence, and a recipe for disaster given many businesses notoriously refuse to replace still-functioning hardware.
I read that as they're old machines that don't have an update mechanism. They shipped with remote management features but not a means to provide internet based updates, because that wasn't as much of a thing years ago.
The situation is probably less consumer IoT device and more "this industrial equipment can plug in to a router, and a computer on the network is supposed to talk to them." Then someone just gains a point of ingress into that network and can send messages to the connected fridges.
One would assume that a large enough chain has ongoing maintenance contracts for their equipment, for parts and software. If they're just rolling with old, discontinued stuff and buying parts to keep things going, it long since ceased to be the manufacturer's responsibility. Long term support ain't free.
This article reminded me of a substack a friend send me a month ago, about a (alleged!) similar cyber attacks on US military installations. AFAIK they are not related in any way other than "fridge hacked".
https://signalandsilence.substack.com/p/i-think-someone-hacked-the-commissary
I just can't see any reason you'd need to adjust the temperature?
They have 2 jobs, keep it at a specific temperature and change the temperature to another specific temperature for a set period of time before going back to the lower temperature. I can understand monitoring temperatures or ice levels in case it needs repair or maybe even changing the defrost schedule, but not remote changes to temperature. That should be built into the fridge, hard coded!
I wonder if the 1600s market in Paris didn’t burn because one such freezer went haywire in there :(