The scientist about the freezers: "Destructive attacks against countries in the West"

A total of 23 ICA stores were affected, eight of which have had to dispose of refrigerated and frozen goods. Coop confirmed on Monday afternoon that seven of their 800 stores were exposed to a cyber attack. Axfood's consumer picking warehouse in Västra Frölunda was also exposed. They had to dispose of goods worth around SEK 3 million, according to press manager Magnus Törnblom.

A similar hacker attack hit stores in France a few weeks ago.

Pontus Johnson, professor at the department of network and system technology at KTH, believes that the incident highlights a vulnerability that extends further than freezer boxes in grocery stores.

Large parts of society are today connected to computers which in turn are connected to the internet – for example cars, financial systems and water supply.

- Hackers could get into the control systems and shut down the electricity supply in an entire country or in parts of a country. Even medical equipment used in operations, even pacemakers and insulin pumps, can be connected to the Internet and exposed.

There are practical benefits to having devices connected to the internet, such as being able to control and control them remotely. At the same time, it means a particular vulnerability to external attacks.

- Food supply is part of our critical infrastructure and it is important that we have good preparedness. The worse the security policy situation is, the more important it is. This is a reminder that we are still very vulnerable to attack digitally.

He points out that, even if you try, it is simply not possible to make yourself invulnerable to that type of attack.

To increase security, it is recommended to change to a strong password and to regularly update the software. If the systems are not configured correctly or built correctly, they can be particularly vulnerable.

- What needs to be done in these contexts is to ensure that the devices are not exposed to the entire internet. For example, you can have a firewall in front, which only lets certain traffic through so that not just anyone can access these devices.

At the moment, it is not known who or who are behind the attacks, or exactly how they happened. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, nor are there any known reports that they were preceded by threats or blackmail.

- My guess is that this is opportunistic, this doesn't seem like something you do to make any money. Most cybercriminals are financially motivated and here I don't see that there is any financial motive.

Johnson does not rule out that a state-linked group could be behind it.

- In Russia there is a whole bunch of groups that usually engage in destructive attacks against countries in the West. They are usually called pro-Russian, who are not necessarily part of the Russian state apparatus, but rather as supporters, he says, adding:

- With that can also be teenagers who just want to fool around.