The Irish Times view on cybersecurity: a chilling warning on our supermarket shelves

The cyberattack which disrupted the refrigeration system at 13 Supervalu supermarkets yesterday may seem like a minor incident. It appears that the company’s systems alerted it to the problem and allowed it to manage the fall-out with limited disruption.

However, it is another warning sign which should be heeded. It is part of a wider story relating to the vulnerability of modern society to such attacks in a world where so many services and appliances at a business and household level are connected to the internet.

The opportunities for hackers, whether they are looking for money or have wider political motivations, are endless. And for those wanting to sow disquiet, food security and the everyday availability of produce is a tempting target.

While full details of the latest hacks have still to emerge, the issue in Ireland coincided with similar problems in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland and Estonia. A few weeks ago France had been targeted, with hundreds of refrigerators attacked. It seems as if hackers have identified a particular point of vulnerability. In the case of France they hacked into a monitoring system which allowed employees to check fridge temperatures online. Digital convenience met malign intent.

The advent of artificial intelligence makes the search for flaws in software systems much quicker. Vulnerabilities which were unnoticed for many years can come to light, as can ways to hack a system using a few small flaws combined. Of course, those trying to protect systems also have the option of using AI – indeed the necessity to do so in many cases.

And so the cybersecurity “arms race” is moving on quickly and there is an onus on companies and governments to respond. Indeed, experts in the field say that proper planning now not only aims to stop as many attacks as possible but also identifies what the organisation would do if one succeeds.

The hacker only has to get lucky once and with so many points of vulnerability across the economy and society there are plenty of targets. And recent news that AI agents had themselves hacked into an Australian public health system underlines the changing nature of the challenges faced.

The nature of the perpetrators is also evolving. Hackers seeking money by tying up a company’s systems – or those of a State agency as happened to the Health Services Executive in 2021 – offer one type of danger.

Those out to cause disruption for wider political reasons, whether motivated by a foreign state, an ideology or just a desire to cause trouble, offer a different type of threat. They cannot be bought off or negotiated with. And their attacks are typically opportunistic and potentially much more disruptive than seen when a few supermarket refrigerators are targeted.