SVT analysis points to Iran in Swedish freezer attacks

Iran may have been behind last week’s cyberattack on refrigeration systems at Swedish supermarkets, which disrupted about 30 stores, according to an analysis by SVT security reporter John Granlund. French authorities have blamed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for similar attacks in France last month.

The Swedish government has not identified a responsible party. But Granlund writes that, if the French authorities are right, Iran exploited a security vulnerability and effectively made the systems a target.

The attacks on French freezers drew international attention, yet some 30 Swedish users of Danfoss systems appear to have missed the warnings, the analysis says. The precise method used to access the Swedish systems is not known. If the weakness was similar to the one in France, in some cases it may have been enough to replace the username “admin” and a password based on the current date with stronger login details.

Granlund argues that food suppliers should have taken greater care to protect systems serving the public, given repeated warnings from authorities and an SVT investigation last month that found control systems exposed online.

The analysis also warns that artificial intelligence could help hackers find unprotected freezers, heat pumps and power plants more quickly. It urges organisations to consider which devices need to be connected to the internet and to protect connected equipment with stronger login credentials.