Freezer hacks: Russian hacktivists claim responsibility, but doubts remain

The outages could be linked to targeted cyberattacks

Ryan Dewhurst, from Spanish firm Previdian, said attackers appeared to collect the public IP addresses of individual freezers before creating a list of systems to target. They then struck overnight, when temperature changes could have the greatest impact.

The software involved was not particularly difficult to exploit, Dewhurst said. 

The freezers relied on security measures that could be bypassed using attack methods already known to researchers and available online.

The timing of the incidents has raised suspicions that the disruption was deliberately coordinated. 

Three cyber-security firms have been monitoring decoy freezer systems, known as honeypots, which are designed to attract attackers and record their activity. 

Evidence gathered from the traps suggests the latest failures were part of a planned second wave, following a suspected attack days earlier.

"The fact that all these fridge freezers were hit simultaneously suggests planning and coordination," Dewhurst said.

Who is behind the mysterious freezer disruptions?

While the precise source remains unknown, researchers say the evidence points towards an organised operation.

Two Russian hacktivist groups, Noname057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance, have claimed they were responsible. 

The BBC reported that the groups posted a message on Telegram before deleting it shortly afterwards, declaring they had "once again demonstrated a high level of skill and precision".

The claim has not been independently confirmed. Investigators have not excluded Russian involvement, but say other possibilities include an Iranian hacktivist group, a nation-state operation or an individual acting alone as a prankster.

A separate investigation by Strathclyde-based cyber-security firm Lupovis has used honeypots deployed worldwide to track the attackers' behaviour and determine what they might do next. 

Researchers have not yet identified those behind the freezer disruptions, and say a definitive answer may not emerge for some time.