Russia denies role as Europe’s fridge hacks widen

The Kremlin denied on Thursday that Russia was behind cyberattacks on cold stores across Europe. Two pro-Russia groups had posted claims, but officials have not blamed any culprit.

The groups, Noname057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance, posted claims on Wednesday and then removed them. Their posts do not prove who carried out the attacks. The motive also remains unknown.

France said no blood products or samples were damaged. Hackers had changed the controls at three cold stores used by the national blood service. The incident happened overnight on Monday.

Staff moved plasma and other goods to safe sites. The stores were run by outside firms, so the blood service said it was not the direct target. It alerted France’s cyber body and health ministry, and stepped up checks on its equipment.

Europe urges firms to fix weak systems

The European Commission and the EU cyber agency said they were watching the attacks. They urged firms to act at once against any security gaps. They also called for quick data sharing and a joint response across Europe.

The hackers changed settings on cooling systems that can be reached online. Some firms used old software or weak login checks. In other cases, cold controls were exposed to the public internet.

Shops and food firms in at least 10 European states have reported faults. They include Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. UK food firms have also seen problems.

At some stores, cold units rose to 50C and food had to be thrown away. Belgium was among the worst-hit states. State lawyers there opened an inquiry after dozens of shops reported faults.

In Ireland, 13 SuperValu stores removed chilled and frozen food from sale. Seven Intermarché stores in Portugal linked their faults to an outside firm. Four Co-op shops in Sicily and one business in Tuscany were also affected.

No public finding on who was behind it

Russia’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov called claims of Russian involvement absurd and without proof. National cyber bodies have not linked the attacks to any state or group.

Romania’s cyber chief earlier said the attack there looked semi-amateur and did not point to a state actor. EU staff also said they were not assigning blame.

The latest claims therefore remain unproven. What is clear is that web-linked cold systems can affect food, medicine and blood services when their controls are not kept safe.

Source: The Moscow Times; Politico Europe; Euractiv; The Guardian; BBC News; The Local Spain.