India’s 8,831 Cold Storages Face Emerging Cyber Risks from Connected Refrigeration Controls

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Overnight on October 11–12, hackers took control of refrigeration systems at around 700 retail sites in France, including stores run by Carrefour and Intermarché, according to France’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI. The attackers turned up the temperature settings used to melt ice off the cooling coils, causing food to spoil and starting at least 15 fires. A second wave of attacks followed in early November, affecting stores in eight European countries, including Belgium, Sweden and Ireland, and forcing retailers to throw away large quantities of food. Separately, an attack on a refrigeration equipment supplier affected the systems that monitor and control temperatures at three sites of France’s national blood service; its alarm systems alerted staff, who moved the blood products before any were lost.

On November 9, France accused Shahid Kaveh, a unit linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), of orchestrating the October attacks, a charge Iran has denied. Authorities have not established that the subsequent incidents were carried out by the same group. The attacks have raised concerns for India’s cold chain, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said in a Rajya Sabha response on February 6, 2026, had 8,831 cold-storage facilities with a combined capacity of about 40.3 million metric tonnes. As these facilities adopt more automated and remotely monitored systems, they could also become exposed to the vulnerabilities seen in Europe, experts said.

How do connected refrigeration systems work?

A cold-storage facility uses a refrigerant that circulates through pipes and changes between liquid and gas to absorb heat from inside and release it outside. Sensors measure the temperature and send readings to an electronic controller, often a programmable logic controller (PLC), an industrial computer that sends instructions to equipment such as compressors, fans and pumps. Connecting these controllers to the internet allows businesses to monitor temperatures and equipment performance in real time, receive alerts before stock spoils, diagnose faults remotely and manage many sites from one system, Sandeep Kachhawa, an energy efficiency researcher, told The Indian Express. However, he added that this creates a cyber risk if the controller is poorly secured.

What makes these systems vulnerable?

Refrigeration controllers can become vulnerable when they are directly exposed to the internet or accessed through poorly secured remote connections. Attackers can identify such equipment online and attempt to gain access using weak or default passwords, or exploit vulnerabilities in outdated software. The risks are compounded by the long lifespan of industrial equipment: while laptops might be replaced every three to five years, refrigeration equipment can remain operational for 15–20 years, sometimes long after manufacturers stop providing software security updates, said Xavier Bellekens, CEO of cybersecurity firm Lupovis. Lupovis observed suspicious activity against its simulated Danfoss refrigeration controllers, known as honeypots, between October 20 and 30, identifying more than 250 attempts from 91 distinct sources, with activity peaking on October 26.

What does this mean for India’s cold chain?

In India, the risk is likely to be concentrated in cold-chain facilities that use internet-connected refrigeration controls, remote monitoring and external vendor access, Kachhawa said. These include organised retail chains, dairy chilling facilities, pharmaceutical warehouses, vaccine storage centres and large distribution hubs. Refrigerated transport may also be vulnerable where trucks use connected temperature-monitoring and fleet-management systems. However, traditional potato cold storage facilities are less exposed to remote cyberattacks because most of their equipment is locally controlled and not connected to external networks, Kachhawa added. The National Centre for Cold-chain Development’s 2025 engineering guidelines encourage automation, but an expert identified a need for detailed cybersecurity requirements alongside that expansion.