Russia has denied involvement in a hacking spree targeting supermarket fridges across Europe.Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said it was “absurd” to suggest that Russian-backed hackers were behind the assault, saying there were “no arguments or evidence” to support the claim.Cyber security experts are scrambling to identify the hackers who launched a string of attacks on supermarket fridges and freezers, remotely turning up the temperatures to make the food inside unsafe to eat.The cyber criminals targeted supermarkets across France last month and stores in Belgium, Sweden and Finland this week, leading to millions of euros worth of losses.France’s blood bank was also hacked, while in the UK a handful of food suppliers have reported that their fridge units had their temperatures turned up to dangerous levels.On Wednesday, two pro-Russian “hacktivist” groups, dubbed NoName057(16) and Z-Pentest, took credit for the attacks in posts on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.However, Mr Peskov said the claims were “unfounded accusations against our country”.The hackers exploited weaknesses in the systems that connect industrial refrigerators to the internet, taking them over remotely and tampering with them.Some cyber security researchers have suggested the attacks bear the hallmarks of Russia as they hunt for a culprit.However, other experts cast doubt on the groups’ claims, arguing the hackers – who are also known as the Cyber Army of Russia Reborn – are typically responsible for more opportunistic attacks.Oleg Shakirov, an expert on Russian cyber activity, said: “Their claim doesn’t look plausible to me.”UK security officials have yet to blame any one group for the hack and believe it is too early to identify those behind the incidents with any certainty.However, other cyber investigators said they were exploring potential Russian links.Xavier Bellekens, founder of the cyber security company Lupovis, said it had set up decoy internet signals designed to look like vulnerable fridge units.He said hackers tried to target these. The attackers’ internet traffic included signals originating in Russia.”It could be North Korea making a false flag,” he said, “but there are many little breadcrumbs that make us point to Russia.”He added: “If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck…”Last month’s hacks in France affected fridges supplied by Danish cooling giant Danfoss. Danfoss said the machines had been running outdated software.Other hacks have hit cooling technology systems developed by US business Copeland. Copeland has urged customers to update their software.A spokesman for NHS Blood and Transport said it was undertaking “additional checks as an extra precaution” to secure its fridges following the attacks.A spokesman for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said: “We are aware of a small number of UK organisations that may be affected by this incident as a result of vulnerabilities on their systems, and the NCSC is supporting those that may be impacted.”We continue to liaise with our international partners and the affected sectors to understand and mitigate its impact, and as you would expect, we are working with partners across government to make sure we can effectively support relevant sectors.”Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.
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