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By Hannah Parry
Associate News Editor
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The Pentagon is treating a series of freezer malfunctions at U.S. military bases as suspected cyberattacks, raising questions about the security of refrigeration systems and other connected equipment used to support military installations.
The incidents occurred in late August and affected at least six military commissaries. In one reported case, freezer controls appeared to have been altered overnight, causing food to spoil.
A unit of U.S. Cyber Command is working with other government agencies and law enforcement partners, the Pentagon told Newsweek. The Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has also confirmed that its Cyber Field Office is involved and is coordinating with French law enforcement to better understand refrigeration outages in Europe.
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Thomas Hamilton, CID spokesman, told Newsweek that the division is "actively working with the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) to determine the full extent of what occurred with the refrigeration units in the commissaries on military installations."
"Army CID is also working with DCIS and French law enforcement in understanding the refrigeration outages in Europe," he added.
The investigation comes weeks after cyberattacks disrupted refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets, prompting investigators to examine potential vulnerabilities in connected cooling equipment. However, officials have not publicly established what caused the U.S. malfunctions, whether the incidents were deliberate acts of sabotage or who might have been responsible.
A Defense Department official told Newsweek on Thursday that the department was "aware of speculation regarding a potential cyber incident."
"For security reasons, we do not comment on ongoing law enforcement investigations," they added.
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What We Know
The U.S. incidents occurred in late August, when at least six military commissaries reported freezer malfunctions, according to a review of military installation websites and social media posts.
Commissaries are stores on military installations that sell groceries and other goods to eligible members of the military community.
The six military bases struck by the outages within days of each other included:
- Fort Irwin, California: The commissary reported refrigeration problems that restricted sales of perishable food. Officials said technicians were working to resolve the issue, and the installation later reported that freezer repairs had been completed. “The commissary has placed emergency food orders and you should see items back in stock within the next 48 hours,” the base said in a Facebook post on August 31.
- F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming: The commissary reported a refrigeration malfunction, according to contemporary coverage. The precise cause of the disruption has not been publicly established.
- Fort Huachuca, Arizona: The installation reported that its freezers had entered defrost mode overnight, heating the food inside and spoiling frozen products. The incident was described in an August 26 Facebook post.
- Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island: The commissary announced that refrigeration problems had restricted sales, with dry goods available while affected food sections were unavailable.
- Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi: The commissary was among the locations that reported refrigeration outages during the late-August disruptions.
- Travis Air Force Base, California: The commissary was also identified among the affected locations in reports based on installation announcements.
There are also several unconfirmed outages according to military media, including problems at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and Naval Air Station Lemoore in California.
The significance of the outages lie in the reported behavior of the equipment. A refrigeration system that stops cooling may indicate a mechanical failure or power disruption. A system whose settings have apparently been changed to raise temperatures presents a different set of questions, including whether someone gained unauthorized access to its controls.
What We Don't Know
Several central questions remain unanswered.
Who was responsible? Neither the Pentagon nor the Army has publicly identified a suspect or group. There is no publicly confirmed evidence attributing the U.S. incidents to a foreign government, criminal organization or individual hacker.
How were the systems affected? The reported change in freezer behavior raises the possibility that someone manipulated temperature settings or defrost controls. However, officials have not publicly disclosed forensic evidence showing how the affected equipment was accessed or what commands were issued.
Were the incidents connected? Investigators are reportedly communicating with French counterparts about similar refrigeration disruptions. That does not establish that the same person or group carried out both sets of incidents.
What equipment was involved? It is not yet clear whether Danfoss controllers, which were implicated in the French incidents, or any other particular brand of refrigeration controller were installed at the affected U.S. bases.
How much damage occurred? The public information available does not establish the full financial cost of the U.S. incidents, the quantity of food lost or whether additional military installations were affected.
The answers could help investigators distinguish an isolated equipment problem from a coordinated campaign involving weaknesses in connected industrial systems.
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The French Freezer Attacks
The U.S. investigation follows a major wave of refrigeration disruptions in France in October.
Cyberattacks affecting commercial refrigeration systems caused frozen and chilled food to spoil at hundreds of supermarkets. Reports described cooling units being manipulated to raise temperatures, with some equipment overheating severely enough to contribute to fires.
French authorities opened an investigation into the attacks that affected from 350 to 500 establishments, with some initial estimates placing the number of stores as high as 700.
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The attacks reportedly affected supermarket groups including Carrefour, Intermarché, Monoprix and Coopérative U.
The Danish refrigeration technology company Danfoss, one of several refrigerator manufacturers whose management systems was affected by the hack, said many of its affected units were running outdated firmware or had reached the end of their supported lifespans, potentially leaving them exposed to security risks. Older devices that no longer receive security updates may remain vulnerable if they are connected to networks and are not adequately protected.
The precise method used to compromise every affected system has not been publicly established. Investigators have also not publicly identified a perpetrator.
The French incidents have drawn attention to a potential weakness in systems that are essential to food storage but may not receive the same cybersecurity scrutiny as conventional computer networks.
Why Refrigeration Systems Can Become Cybersecurity Targets
Refrigeration equipment is increasingly managed through digital controllers that regulate temperatures, defrost cycles and other operating settings.
These systems can offer practical advantages. Remote monitoring allows technicians to identify faults, adjust settings and maintain equipment without visiting every site. But remote connectivity can also create security risks when systems are exposed to the internet, use weak access controls or run outdated software.
If an attacker gains sufficient access to a refrigeration controller, changing its settings could disrupt cooling without necessarily shutting the equipment down altogether. This means that food safety may be compromised but the issue is not necessarily noticed immediately.
The risks extend beyond supermarkets. Refrigeration is important to food distribution, warehouses, food-processing facilities and other parts of the supply chain. In military settings, disruptions to commissaries could create additional logistical burdens, even if they do not directly affect operational capabilities.
What Investigators Will Be Looking For
Cybersecurity investigators will need to establish whether the equipment was deliberately manipulated and, if so, how access was obtained.
Relevant evidence could include controller logs, temperature histories, records of configuration changes, remote-access activity and communications between refrigeration systems and external networks. Investigators may also examine whether affected locations shared equipment suppliers, maintenance providers, software versions or remote-management infrastructure.
Those similarities could help determine whether the incidents arose from a common vulnerability or were unrelated failures.
The reported incidents have raised questions about the vulnerability of connected refrigeration equipment at military installations. But until investigators release further findings, the cause of the U.S. malfunctions, the identity of any perpetrator and the relationship to the French attacks remain unresolved.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jenna deJong and Edward T. Cummins
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