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

On October 11 and 12, attackers heated units at about 700 French stores to as high as 50C (122F). On November 2, a second wave of suspected cyberattacks 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 since blamed the first attack on Shahid Kaveh, a cyberunit affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), calling it the first large-scale sabotage cyberattack on French soil. It is not yet clear who was behind the second wave.

How fridges get hacked

A supermarket's fridges and freezers are run from one control panel, connected to the internet for remote management. Home smart fridges connect similarly through Wi-Fi, an app or cloud service.

Attackers reportedly used Shodan, a search engine for internet-connected devices, to find these systems. Once inside, they can switch a fridge off, raise its temperature or steal account details. In France, they used the controllers' own defrost function.

Vulnerable home devices

There are about 21 billion short-range connected devices worldwide and 5.4 billion long-range ones. US internet households now have an average of about 18 connected devices, nearly double the number a decade ago.

Routers are prime targets as they're always online. Smart TVs can be hacked without owners knowing, with researchers finding that more than a third of apps on LG and Samsung smart TVs could let strangers secretly use a household's internet connection.

Robot vacuums can expose even more. Earlier this year, a programmer found he could control almost 7,000 DJI Romo robot vacuums with a PlayStation 5 controller, gaining access to their live camera feeds, audio and floor plans.

Critical infrastructure at risk

The same weaknesses that expose a fridge can affect power plants, water supplies, banks and hospitals. In July, a cyberattack in Minnesota targeted more than 30 community water systems, suspected to be Iran-aligned hackers.

That same month, a cyberattack attributed to Iran-linked hackers forced a small British power plant offline for four days, reported as the first successful attack of its kind on UK energy infrastructure.

In late September and early October, hackers stole personal data from at least seven South Korean financial firms, affecting about 68,000 people. The attacker used ARTEX, an open-source AI tool developed in China.

Growing political targeting

The European Repository of Cyber Incidents logged 4,932 major incidents between January 2000 and November 2026, with the number peaking at 795 in 2024. About two-thirds of all incidents recorded since 2000 have occurred since 2022.

Governments are the biggest target, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all targets, led by civil service and government ministries. Critical infrastructure is the second most targeted sector, led by health, finance, telecommunications, transport and energy.

Protection measures

Hackers rely on weaknesses such as weak passwords and outdated devices. Professor Awais Rashid noted that "the world works because cybersecurity works effectively."

The UK's NCSC advises people to turn off unused features like remote camera access. The UK's Be Ready campaign urges households to keep a three-day supply of water, food, medicine, cash and torches in case of cyber disruptions to critical services.