A series of cyberattacks on grocery stores out of Europe have raised concerns about cyber threats stateside as the U.S. government warns businesses of potential attacks targeting industrial refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems.
What have US officials said?
Brett Leatherman, head of the FBI Cyber Division, spoke in an advisory warning Thursday, urging organizations to take mitigation steps against potential malicious cyber actors immediately.
“These systems protect food and medicine across health care, food and agriculture, and other critical sectors here in the United States as well. Attackers are getting in through controllers that are unpatched, reachable from the internet, or still using the default passwords listed in the manufacturer’s manual,” said Leatherman.
In a joint warning from the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), experts urged organizations to eliminate public internet exposure, isolate operational technology and enforce credential security to mitigate potential attacks.
A grave warning from ex-FBI
Former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker spoke with Fox News to warn Americans further, interpreting the cyberattacks as a form of “asymmetrical warfare,” where opponents use unconventional tactics to expose the vulnerabilities of a stronger opponent. (Read More)
