SecurityNov 3, 2026, 10:04 PM UTC·2 min read

US Military Freezers Hacked to Heat Up, Ruining Commissary Food

Freezers at US military grocery stores began heating instead of cooling, and the Pentagon suspects a cyberattack. US Cyber Command and Army investigators are now involved.

Open commercial freezer in a military base grocery store with thawed, spoiled frozen food and melted ice cream. — Image: ギズモード・ジャパン

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Freezers at grocery stores on US military bases have malfunctioned in a way that destroyed large amounts of food, and the Pentagon suspects a cyberattack. According to Reuters, US Cyber Command and Army criminal investigators have been brought in for a full inquiry.

The incidents began in August 2026, when refrigeration equipment at military commissaries at several bases across the country stopped or behaved abnormally at the same time. The security blog Signal and Silence counted 14 freezer failures at military facilities in 11 states. At first they looked like power cuts or mechanical faults, but base reports revealed something stranger.

Defrost mode that would not stop

The freezers had switched themselves into defrost mode, which melts ice on the cooling coils. Normally the cycle shuts off automatically once the temperature rises a few degrees. In these cases the heating never stopped, and at a base in Wyoming the temperature inside a freezer reportedly climbed to roughly 71 to 82 degrees Celsius.

Similar attacks have reportedly hit more than 350 commercial supermarkets in France, and investigators in several countries are working together to find those responsible.

Old industrial controllers, new exposure

Unlike traditional ransomware, which steals data and demands payment, this attack physically takes over infrastructure to cause direct damage. Spoiling food destroys the value of the goods and can disrupt supply chains.

The weak point appears to be programmable logic controllers (PLCs), the industrial devices that run equipment in factories and commercial buildings. They were designed decades ago to operate in environments isolated from outside networks. As they were later connected to the internet and remote monitoring systems, they were often left with inadequate security.

Bill Moore, CEO of industrial cybersecurity firm Xona Systems, said controllers meant for manual maintenance by workers have become an attractive foothold for attackers entering infrastructure.

The case shows that everyday food distribution and commercial infrastructure are now targets for attacks that cause physical destruction.