A guide for shops

Refrigeration online? Four questions for your refrigeration supplier

For shops with chillers and freezers. In autumn 2026 attackers got into the controls of refrigeration systems in several countries, Norway included. Here is what happened, what to ask your refrigeration supplier, and what you can do yourself.

Go to the four questions

What has happened

Attacks on refrigeration controls in Europe

Since mid-October, attackers have got into the controls of chillers and freezers in shops in several European countries. They turned the temperature up or put the units into defrost. It started in France, where several hundred shops were hit.

On the night of 2 November the same happened in Sweden, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands, among others. Small shops and butchers were hit too.

A Danfoss spokesperson told the Dutch broadcaster NOS that the systems that were attacked were not on a secure network and had a default password.

The advice from CERT-FR, the French national security centre: A control system that can be reached from the internet goes against good practice. Take it off the internet, and give the refrigeration supplier access only through a secure VPN connection.

In Norway

On the night of 3 November the freezer system at a warehouse store in Enebakk was probably attacked. The managing director told NRK that the freezer room was connected to the internet through its own mobile connection, which the supplier used for remote control. A fruit store in Hardanger suspects the same.

The Norwegian Business and Industry Security Council (NSR) has found several dozen Norwegian refrigeration systems open on the internet, some with factory passwords. NSM and NSR consider the large grocery chains well secured, but some businesses have not yet been reached.

Check for yourself

Four questions for your refrigeration supplier

You do not need to know anything about networks to ask these questions. Send them to whoever delivered your refrigeration system, or services it.

  1. Can the controls be reached from the internet?

    Can the refrigeration controls be reached from the internet, through an open port in the router or through a separate mobile connection? Ask about both. In Enebakk, the freezer room was connected to the internet through a separate mobile connection.

  2. Has the default password been changed?

    Has the password that came with the controls been changed? According to Danfoss, the systems attacked in the Netherlands had a default password. NSM says that if you have kept the original password from the supplier, you should do something about it.

  3. Do the controls still get updates?

    Do the controls still get software updates from the manufacturer? Older Danfoss models such as the AK-SM 800 and AK-SC 355 do not. NSM says now is the time to phase out old equipment and to update where possible.

  4. How does the service technician connect?

    Does the service technician connect through a VPN or the manufacturer's own secure solution, and not through an open port? That is what CERT-FR recommends: access only through a secure VPN connection or a protected network.

Do it yourself

What the shop can do itself

  • Talk to your refrigeration supplier. Send them the four questions above, and ask for the answers in writing.
  • A VPN instead of an open port. If the supplier needs remote access, it should go through a secure VPN connection, not through a port opened in the router.
  • Change the default password. If the password is the same as when the system was delivered, ask the supplier to change it.
  • Separate temperature alarms. Temperature sensors that alert you by text message or email, independently of the refrigeration controls, tell you even if someone has taken over the controls. Several Norwegian suppliers sell such sensors.
  • Take NSM's Cybersjekk. NSM, the Norwegian National Security Authority, has a self-assessment for businesses at cybersjekk.no (in Norwegian). It takes about 30 minutes.

Go to cybersjekk.no

Outside Check

What Databank can do

If you want to know for certain whether anything at the shop can be reached from the internet, we can check it for you. We only check with your written permission.

Fixes, only if something is open

If we find something, we suggest how it can be fixed, and you get a fixed offer before any work starts. We work on the shop's router and network, together with your refrigeration supplier, and change nothing on the refrigeration system itself.

Only with written permission

We check nothing until you have signed. If the router or the mobile connection is in the supplier's name, we need a yes from the supplier too. We help you get it.

Sources

The facts on this page come from these sources, read on 6 November 2026. Most of them are in Norwegian.