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A cyberattack on refrigerated display units across Europe has offered a vivid reminder of the fragility of our digital defences. A professor sets out what must be done better in the future.

»Here we go again«: Professor repeats warning

Food worth at least DKK 684,000 was thrown away after a cyberattack raised the temperature in ICA’s refrigerated display units to 50 degrees Celsius. Several European supermarkets have been hit yesterday. Foto: 50090 Johan Nilsson / Tt/Ritzau Scanpix
Food worth at least DKK 684,000 was thrown away after a cyberattack raised the temperature in ICA’s refrigerated display units to 50 degrees Celsius. Several European supermarkets have been hit yesterday. Foto: 50090 Johan Nilsson / Tt/Ritzau Scanpix

When his phone rang three times while Jens Myrup Pedersen, a professor of cybersecurity at Aarhus University, was sitting in a meeting, he had little doubt about what it was about.

»Okay, here we go again. And sure enough, that was it«, he thought to himself on Monday morning when he heard about the cyberattacks targeting refrigerators and freezers in grocery stores across several European countries.

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