If hackers can take over a supermarket fridge, what else is at risk?

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that hackers twice disrupted supermarket refrigeration systems in Europe within a month, raising concerns about how vulnerable internet-connected equipment can be. In the first incident, on October 11 and 12, attackers allegedly raised the temperature of fridges in about 700 French stores, spoiling food and causing fires. A second wave of suspected cyberattacks on November 2 affected supermarkets and food businesses in at least nine European countries, including Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.

France has blamed the first attack on Shahid Kaveh, described by French authorities as a cyberunit linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The outlet said it is still unclear who was behind the later incidents. The report used the attacks as a wider warning about the security of connected systems in homes, businesses and public services, noting that fridges, routers, smart TVs and other devices can be accessed if they are online, poorly protected or no longer updated.

The article also extended the risk to critical infrastructure such as water systems, power plants, hospitals and banks. It cited recent cyber incidents in the United States, the United Kingdom and South Korea to show that politically motivated or financially driven hackers are increasingly targeting essential services.

The piece argued that basic defenses still matter, including strong passwords, software updates and turning off unused remote features. It also noted that if large-scale infrastructure is hacked, individual users have limited control, which is why emergency preparedness and cybersecurity planning are becoming more important.