Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Is OT the Next Cybersecurity Threat Facing the Food Industry?

For much of the past decade, food industry cybersecurity has been synonymous with ransomware. Food manufacturers, retailers, distributors and service providers have invested heavily in strengthening their cyber defenses. Multi-factor authentication, employee awareness training, network monitoring and incident response planning have become part of the modern risk management toolkit. Yet cybercriminals adapt.

The recent cyberattack affecting major French supermarket retailers has raised an important question for the industry. Rather than targeting business systems or encrypting data, the attack reportedly disrupted refrigeration systems, causing fresh and frozen products to be lost.

Whether this proves to be an isolated incident or the beginning of a wider trend remains to be seen. However, it highlights a possibility that food businesses should not ignore.

Why this incident matters

Most cyberattacks in the food industry have traditionally targeted information, such as customer records, financial systems, emails and production plans. The objective was to disrupt business operations or extract money.

The French supermarket incident appears different. The reported target was not information, but refrigeration infrastructure. In other words, systems responsible for preserving food.

That distinction is important because it represents a move from attacking IT systems to attacking operational systems. For the food sector, that changes the conversation.

Understanding Operational Technology

Operational Technology (OT) refers to the systems that monitor and control physical processes. In the food industry, these systems are everywhere:

• Refrigeration and cold chain systems
• Manufacturing and packaging lines
• Environmental monitoring systems
• Warehouse automation
• Building and utility management systems
• Process control equipment

Historically, many of these systems operated independently from corporate IT networks. Today, that is increasingly no longer the case. Digital transformation has brought enormous benefits. Connected factories, cloud-based monitoring, remote access, predictive maintenance, AI-driven insights and digital traceability platforms are helping make food supply chains more efficient, transparent and responsive. However, increased connectivity also increases exposure.

The more connected operations become, the more important it is to ensure their security.

When cybersecurity becomes a food safety issue

For many organizations, cybersecurity is still primarily an IT concern. But what happens when a cyberattack affects refrigeration, storage conditions, environmental monitoring or production controls? At that point, the consequences extend far beyond data. Potential impacts include:

• Product spoilage
• Cold chain failures
• Food waste
• Production downtime
• Supply chain disruption
• Product withdrawals or recalls
• Damage to brand reputation

Cybersecurity is now closely linked to food safety, operational resilience and business continuity. A refrigeration system compromised by a cyberattack can have many of the same practical consequences as equipment failure or power loss. That is why this discussion should now extend beyond IT teams to quality, operations, engineering and executive leadership.

A new dimension of food defense

The food industry is familiar with protecting against intentional threats. Food defense programs help organizations assess and mitigate risks associated with deliberate attempts to harm products, processes or supply chains. As operational systems become increasingly digital and connected, cyber threats are becoming part of that same conversation.

The boundaries between cybersecurity, food defense and operational resilience are beginning to blur. What was once an IT problem is increasingly becoming a business-wide risk management challenge.

Building digital trust

The answer is not to slow digital transformation. The benefits of connected operations, digital monitoring, automation and data-driven decision-making are too significant to ignore. Instead, organizations must build digital trust alongside digital capability.

Frameworks, such as ISO/IEC 27001, provide a structured approach to managing information security risks and establishing the governance to support secure and resilient operations. More businesses recognize that cybersecurity is as much about confidence as it is about technology. Confidence that systems will perform as expected, information remains secure and that operations can continue even when faced with emerging threats.

Through our Digital Trust Assurance services, we help organizations strengthen cybersecurity, information security and resilience through numerous solutions, including ISO/IEC 27001 certification, cybersecurity assessments, governance reviews and risk management programs.

For food organizations, this helps ensure that digital transformation is supported by effective risk management and trusted operational controls.

Looking ahead

It is premature to conclude that cybercriminals have abandoned ransomware in favor of attacking OT. However, the French supermarket incident is a reminder that threat actors are constantly evolving their methods. As organizations become more resilient against traditional cyberattacks, attackers will naturally look for new opportunities to create disruption.

In the food industry, some of those opportunities may lie within the operational systems that keep products safe, fresh and available. For years, the conversation has focused on protecting information. Perhaps, the next chapter will focus on protecting the systems that protect our food.

This may prove to be one of the most important resilience challenges facing the food industry in the years ahead.