{"text":[[{"start":11.2,"text":"Freezers at dozens of supermarkets across Europe suddenly overheated on Monday after hackers broke into the refrigeration systems used by retailers for a second time in a matter of weeks, raising the alarm over the continent’s food security."}],[{"start":25.36,"text":"Freezers at Ica and Coop shops in Sweden were turned up to as high as 55C, while equipment in stores belonging to Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, Intermarché and Ikea in Belgium, Supervalu in Ireland, K-stores in Finland and Selver in Estonia was also affected."}],[{"start":43.08,"text":"The cyber attack, which has ruined food worth millions of euros, came weeks after hundreds of French supermarkets suffered similar attacks."}],[{"start":50.68,"text":"EU agriculture and food commissioner Christophe Hansen called the hack a “deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain”. He added that the continent’s food security was not at risk."}],[{"start":62.12,"text":"Stephan Moelans, chief executive of Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel, whose equipment was affected, said that hackers had targeted the defrost mode of the freezers, causing rapid rises in temperature. They appeared to have taken advantage of equipment using unsafe internet connections in several cases."}],[{"start":79.2,"text":"In Belgium, about 40 Delhaize shops and 15 Carrefour stores were affected as well as 10 Intermarché sites and five Spar franchises. Musgrave, owner of Supervalu, said refrigeration systems in 13 of its stores were affected."}],[{"start":94.12,"text":"Camilla Nilsson, store manager of Ica St Olof in Österlen in Sweden, said that hackers had “managed to get into our refrigeration management systems and change the settings”."}],[{"start":104.16,"text":"“We can’t adjust the temperatures, we can’t change them. Hot air is blowing into the freezers. Everything is ruined,” Rickard Nilsson, head of an Ica shop in Sjöbo in southern Sweden, told newspaper Aftonbladet."}],[{"start":116.96,"text":"Experts have repeatedly warned of the damage cyber attacks could inflict on critical infrastructure, from power plants to food shops, due to poor IT security and outdated software."}],[{"start":126.88,"text":"Attacks on industrial hardware, known in the cyber security industry as operational technology or OT, have traditionally required specialised knowledge."}],[{"start":135,"text":"However, Robert Lee, chief executive of cyber security company Dragos and a leading expert on OT attacks, said large language models had made it easier for hackers to access the expertise and tools needed to hit multiple devices and sites at the same time."}],[{"start":150.32,"text":"Earlier this year, suspected Iranian hackers targeted dozens of water utilities in the US, locking administrators out of their systems and forcing shutdowns."}],[{"start":159.68,"text":"“The reach and scale of these attacks is new,” he said, noting that OT attacks used to be one-off incidents. “We’ve never had a hundred-plus water utilities [being affected] at once. We’ve never had hundreds of supermarkets at once.”"}],[{"start":174.32,"text":"Moelans said that, as in the French attacks, the affected temperature control systems were made by Danish industrial group Danfoss, which had warned customers to upgrade their software and hardware. He added that hackers had targeted supermarkets that did not have a secure internet connection."}],[{"start":189.12,"text":"Danfoss, a privately owned company, confirmed that its systems had been compromised for a second time and reiterated that it had advised customers to disconnect systems from public IP addresses, update to the latest firmware and use “appropriate network protection”."}],[{"start":203.56,"text":"Belgium’s Centre for Cybersecurity has upgraded the attack to a national incident, meaning that other intelligence and security services are exchanging information as part of the investigation. It is still unknown who was behind the attack."}],[{"start":216.64,"text":"Mich Vergauwen, spokesperson for Carrefour in Belgium, said that only a small number of its stores had been affected because of additional measures taken after the French incidents, including updates and using a secure connection."}],[{"start":229.68,"text":"Last month’s attacks in France, which ruined food and started fires, are being investigated by the cyber crime unit of the Paris public prosecutor’s office as well as Anssi, the French government’s cyber security agency."}],[{"start":241.48,"text":"Vincent Strubel, head of Anssi, said last month that hackers had exploited retailers’ basic security flaws."}],[{"start":248.36,"text":"Additional reporting by Jude Webber in Dublin"}],[{"start":254.95,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793686020_1516.mp3"}