Refrigerator Malfunctions on U.S. Military Bases May Be Result of Targeted Cyberattacks, Similar to French Incident
The U.S. Pentagon is investigating whether a series of refrigerator malfunctions at military base commissaries could have been the result of targeted cyberattacks, similar to what occurred at hundreds of French grocery stores earlier in October, sources revealed to Reuters. At least six commissaries on U.S. bases were affected in August 2026.
Like what was seen in France, the affected freezers’ temperatures were ratcheted up overnight, resulting in massive food losses.
The U.S. Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division told Reuters its Cyber Field Office was working with French law enforcement to better understand the "the refrigeration outages in Europe,” as part of its investigation into the U.S. freezer malfunctions.
In the French incident, the National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) identified a vulnerability in outdated software running on targeted refrigerators supplied by Danish company Danfoss.
Incident Highlights Cybersecurity as a Food Safety Issue
These cyberattacks highlight cybersecurity as an emerging and important food safety issue—a topic explored in ongoing Food Safety Magazine cybersecurity columns.
In an early entry from June 2022, authors Robert Norton, Ph.D., Auburn University Professor and National Security Liaison, and N.C. Simmons, a National Security Specialist, wrote:
“Cyber is the backbone for food and agriculture defense. Adversaries have the means, opportunity, and motivation to break the cyber backbone at will. Just because they have not done so, does not mean they will not in the future. If or when adversaries carry out an attack of large magnitude, the result could be a massive compromise of food safety, food defense, and food security. To avoid that dark scenario, agriculture and food companies must properly prepare for a different kind of assault. The place to start is with their own cyber defense systems.”
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