Federal agencies are warning that hackers are targeting the refrigeration systems that keep America’s food and medicine safe after a string of attacks on supermarkets and a blood service in Europe.

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From The Epoch Times:

Federal agencies warned Thursday that hackers are targeting refrigeration systems used to store food and medicine, urging businesses to secure vulnerable controls amid attacks that could spoil supplies and damage equipment.

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In a fact sheet, officials said successful attacks could allow hackers to alter temperatures, force units into continuous heating or defrost cycles, and create risks including inventory loss, equipment damage, and potential fire hazards.

“Every organization that depends on refrigeration and monitoring systems should assume it could be a target,” Chris Butera, CISA’s acting executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement.

The warning came jointly from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, and the departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and Transportation. Officials said the attacks target unpatched or internet-accessible temperature controllers, which are widely used in healthcare, chemical, food and agriculture, and transportation operations. FBI Cyber Branch Operations Director Brett Leatherman said the bureau is seeing these systems targeted across critical infrastructure sectors worldwide, noting that because they protect food, medicine, and other temperature-sensitive products, they are “attractive targets.” The agencies urged operators to take control systems off the public internet, change default and weak passwords, install patches, replace outdated devices, and secure any remote access.

Europe has already felt the damage. On Monday, supermarket chains in Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, and other countries reported that freezers and refrigerators had been remotely set to high temperatures. In Ireland, 13 SuperValu stores had to pull chilled and frozen products. At one store in Stockholm, freezers reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit after an overnight attack that went undetected for hours. Last month in France, roughly 700 of the country’s 10,000 supermarkets were affected when refrigeration systems were forced into defrost mode. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called it a wake-up call for food security. On Monday, attackers also targeted cold storage at three sites of France’s public blood service, though officials said alarms allowed a quick response and no blood products were compromised.

U.S. officials have not said who is behind the European attacks, or whether similar attacks have been detected inside the United States.

These attacks show how much of daily life now rests on systems most people never think about, from the grocery store freezer to the hospital’s medicine supply. Let’s pray that God would expose and stop those carrying out these attacks, whoever they are, and that they would be brought to justice. Let’s pray for the officials at CISA, the FBI, and the other agencies working to defend America’s critical infrastructure, that they would have wisdom and stay one step ahead. Let’s pray for business owners, hospitals, and farmers to act quickly to secure their systems. And let’s pray that God would protect our nation’s food and medical supply, so that no family goes without what it needs.

How are you praying for the protection of America’s food and medicine supply? Share your prayers and scriptures in the comments.

(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Daniel & Hannah Snipes/Pexels)