Cold chain: new ACN alert – urgent checks on refrigeration systems required
The National Cybersecurity Agency has reiterated its call to public and private sector organisations. Compromising infrastructure can damage products and materials, disrupt services and have repercussions on people’s health
Key points
Check cold chain safeguards immediately and secure the systems used to monitor the facilities. The National Cybersecurity Agency is once again urging public and private sector organisations: the measures already recommended must be adopted ‘with the utmost urgency’. The call comes in light of recent evidence that has emerged internationally and concerns both refrigeration technologies and remote control and industrial supervision systems.
The priority set out by the ACN is to remove the direct internet exposure of administrative and control interfaces, verify the integrity of operational parameters and ensure that alarms are functioning correctly. The verification and mitigation measures referred to by the Agency are designed to prevent breaches that could affect business continuity and personal safety.
The cold chain: risks to products, services and health
The notice focuses on systems on which essential refrigeration, storage and monitoring activities depend, regardless of the sector in which they are used. If left exposed without adequate safeguards, management, supervision and control systems may allow unauthorised access.
The consequences may extend beyond alterations to operational parameters: a breach may also alter alarm thresholds and compromise notification functions. Consequently, both the operation of the systems and the mechanisms designed to report anomalies may be affected.
The ACN highlights the risk of disruption to refrigeration processes, the deterioration of stored products and materials, and even the unavailability of services. These consequences can have an impact on business continuity and people’s health. If management is carried out via centralised platforms, the effects of an incident can extend simultaneously to multiple sites or facilities.
