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SecurityQuiet 9d · day 14

Pentagon probes August base freezer failures as suspected cyberattack

US military investigators are examining spoiled food incidents at six-plus commissaries as a possible hack linked to a similar French freezer attack.

newest coverage 8d agosummary written 13d ago70 pieces1.4k likes & upvotes95 comments NewswiresMastodonBlueskyRedditHacker NewsXYouTubeGoogle News

What to know

  • Pentagon investigators, including Army Cyber Command's Cyber Field Office, are treating August freezer malfunctions at six or more US military commissaries as a suspected cyberattack.
  • US investigators are coordinating with French law enforcement over a similar, confirmed hack that spoiled frozen food in more than 350 French supermarkets, with costs potentially reaching tens of millions of euros.
  • In at least one US case and in the French attack, hackers reportedly cranked freezer temperatures up rather than simply shutting units off, in one French case causing fires.
  • Reuters could not confirm whether the same freezer-controller brand (Danfoss, whose outdated firmware was flagged as a vulnerability in France) was used at the affected US bases, and no attribution or investigative conclusions have been announced.

“the refrigeration outages in Europe.”

US Army Criminal Investigation Division, Cyber Field Office statement · Reuters/Straits Times ↗ · Oct 28

US Cyber Command Pentagon cyber force unitUS Army Criminal Investigation Division Lead US investigative bodyDanfoss Danish freezer controller manufacturerFort Huachuca (Arizona base) Affected military commissary

Pentagon probes August base freezer failures as suspected cyberattack
Straits Times

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesvideosposts

Peak 21 pieces in 4h at Oct 29, 5 AM; 70 pieces over 14 days (48 articles · 1 video · 21 posts) Oct 29, 5 AM — 21 pieces · 16 articles · 5 posts — Newswires 16, X 2, Bluesky 1, +2 moreOct 29, 9 AM — 15 pieces · 9 articles · 6 posts — Newswires 9, Bluesky 2, Mastodon 2, +2 moreOct 29, 1 PM — 7 pieces · 5 articles · 2 posts — Newswires 5, Hacker News 1, X 1Oct 29, 5 PM — 5 pieces · 4 articles · 1 video — Newswires 4, YouTube 1Oct 29, 9 PM — quietOct 30, 1 AM — quietOct 30, 5 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Oct 30, 9 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Oct 30, 1 PM — quietOct 30, 5 PM — quietOct 30, 9 PM — quietOct 31, 1 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 31, 5 AM — quietOct 31, 9 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 31, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 31, 5 PM — quietOct 31, 9 PM — quietNov 1, 1 AM — quietNov 1, 4 AM — 4 pieces · 3 articles · 1 post — Mastodon 2, Google News 1, Newswires 1Nov 1, 8 AM — quietNov 1, 12 PM — quietNov 1, 4 PM — quietNov 1, 8 PM — 4 pieces · 4 articles — Google News 3, Newswires 1Nov 2, 12 AM — quietNov 2, 4 AM — quietNov 2, 8 AM — quietNov 2, 12 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 2, 4 PM — quietNov 2, 8 PM — quietNov 3, 12 AM — quietNov 3, 4 AM — quietNov 3, 8 AM — 6 pieces · 6 articles — Newswires 6Nov 3, 12 PM — quietNov 3, 4 PM — quietNov 3, 8 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Nov 4, 12 AM — quietNov 4, 4 AM — quietNov 4, 8 AM — quietNov 4, 12 PM — quietNov 4, 4 PM — quietNov 4, 8 PM — quietNov 5, 12 AM — quietNov 5, 4 AM — quietNov 5, 8 AM — quietNov 5, 12 PM — quietNov 5, 4 PM — quietNov 5, 8 PM — quietNov 6, 12 AM — quietNov 6, 4 AM — quietNov 6, 8 AM — quietNov 6, 12 PM — quietNov 6, 4 PM — quietNov 6, 8 PM — quietNov 7, 12 AM — quietNov 7, 4 AM — quietNov 7, 8 AM — quietNov 7, 12 PM — quietNov 7, 4 PM — quietNov 7, 8 PM — quietNov 8, 12 AM — quietNov 8, 4 AM — quietNov 8, 8 AM — quietNov 8, 12 PM — quietNov 8, 4 PM — quietNov 8, 8 PM — quietNov 9, 12 AM — quietNov 9, 4 AM — quietNov 9, 8 AM — quietNov 9, 12 PM — quietNov 9, 4 PM — quietNov 9, 8 PM — quietNov 10, 12 AM — quietNov 10, 4 AM — quietNov 10, 8 AM — quietNov 10, 12 PM — quietNov 10, 4 PM — quietNov 10, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quiet 1
Oct 30Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6Nov 7Nov 8Nov 9Nov 10now · 12:50 AM ET
  1. 1
    “working in close coordination with interagency and law enforcement partners.”
    — Pentagon

    1. 11 outlets first by NY Post, 13d ago · also CircleID, International Business Times, Reuters, Breitbart, HuffPost, Defense News +4 · read ↗

    2. 3 outlets first by Security Affairs, 13d ago · also Silicon UK, The Economic Times · read ↗

    4 more claims →

    • BREAKING: 🇺🇸🇫🇷 Hackers raised the temperature of refrigerators at US military bases and spoiled the food, the Pentagon suspects. Four officials familiar with the matter tell Reuters that the U.S. Department of War and French law enforcement are investigating freezer malfunctions

      @Megatron_ronX13d ago1.4k▲view on X ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 9 posts in this stretch
    • unusual_whales@masto.ai

      The Pentagon is treating the August freezer malfunctions, which hit at least six on-base commissaries, as a suspected hack, per Reuters. Read more: https:// t.co/8dKWeKbo2m # news # finance # economics # stocks # options

      unusual_whales@masto.aiMastodon11d agoview on Mastodon ↗

    • Scoop: The Pentagon is treating this August's military base freezer malfunctions as a suspected cyberattack, officials tell me, @ajvicens.bsky.social, and Phil Stewart: —

      @raphae.liBluesky13d agoview on Bluesky ↗
    all of them →
  2. background

    Stars and Stripes, Telegraph report US-French investigator contacts — Stars and Stripes reported the involvement of US military investigators in the base freezer incidents, and the Daily Telegraph reported their contacts with French counterparts over the similar European cyberattack.

  3. background

    Cyberattack cranks up freezer temperatures across French supermarkets — Hackers overrode temperature controls on commercial cooling units in more than 350 French establishments, spoiling frozen food and in some cases causing units to catch fire; total costs could reach tens of millions of euros.

  4. background

    Blog Signal and Silence first flags possible cybersabotage — A recently created blog was the first to report the spate of rogue freezer behavior across US military bases and raise the possibility it was a cyberattack.

  5. background

    Fort Huachuca freezer malfunctions spoil food overnight — The Fort Huachuca, Arizona base's Facebook account reported that a freezer unit went into defrost mode, heating up and spoiling stored food, one of at least six US commissaries affected by similar incidents in late August.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 5 outlets Pentagon suspects mysterious freezer malfunctions at military bases were caused by hackers

    first by Independent UK, 13d ago · also The Independent, Washington Times, Fortune, Times of India

    4 more headlines
  2. 4 outlets Freezers in France caught fire. Now the Pentagon wonders if it happened here

    first by NJ.com, 8d ago · also PennLive, MassLive, The Oregonian

  3. 2 outlets Six military freezers went bad in August. Was it a cyber attack?

    first by Defense One, 13d ago · also Washington Examiner

    1 more headline

and 1 smaller piece

What people are saying 6 voices from 3 sites · best of 9 · verbatim