Hackers recently reprogrammed freezers that store blood samples for France’s national blood service, with units normally kept at -30 C manipulated to reach 110 C. Blood literally boiled. It was France’s second such attack in a month. On Oct. 11, hackers took over refrigeration controls at roughly 700 supermarkets and pushed temperatures to 50 C for about six hours, spoiling thousands of pounds of food.
A freezer doesn’t need the internet to stay cold. Someone decided it would be convenient to manage freezers remotely, and that undoubted convenience became hackers’ way in. The same logic applies to our electricity grid, and a grid failure in Canada in February is far more dangerous than a warm freezer.
