By Ahmed Abdelsalam
The Pentagon suspects hackers may be behind a series of freezer malfunctions that spoiled food at military commissaries across the United States in August, according to a Reuters review.
At least six commissaries were affected in late August. At Fort Huachuca in Arizona, freezers entered defrost mode overnight, heating up and spoiling all frozen food. The base posted photos of empty shelves and warned service members that the food was "spoiled."
French Cyberattack Parallels
Military investigators are coordinating with French counterparts after a similar cyberattack hit commercial freezers in over 350 establishments in France earlier this month. That attack overrode temperature controls, causing spoilage and in some cases fires. The French incident caused tens of millions of euros in damage.
Investigation Underway
The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division's Cyber Field Office is involved, working with French law enforcement. The Pentagon said a Cyber Command unit is coordinating with interagency and law enforcement partners. No conclusion has been reached on responsibility.
Vulnerable Infrastructure
Experts say the French attack exploited obsolete or outdated firmware on Danfoss controllers. It is unclear if the same brand was used at U.S. bases. Refrigeration systems are critical infrastructure; the Global Food Safety Initiative has urged robust cybersecurity for cooling technology.
Previous Refrigeration Hacks
Similar incidents have occurred previously. In 2022, hackers targeted supermarkets in Russia and Israel using outdated cold storage controllers. In December 2025, a Ukrainian woman was accused of participating in a hacker group that disabled refrigeration at a U.S. meatpacking plant in 2024, ruining over 2,000 pounds of meat. Industrial cybersecurity experts warn that connecting once-isolated controllers to the internet creates significant risk.
