Major French supermarket groups suffered a coordinated cyberattack that remotely forced defrosting of refrigeration systems in hundreds of stores, causing fresh and frozen stocks to spoil, sparking fires in some locations and forcing large-scale disposal of food. At least 300 Intermarche/Netto outlets, more than 100 Cooperative U shops and several E. Leclerc stores reported disrupted cooling after temperatures were altered, and prosecutors opened a probe into the large-scale incident and related losses. Retailers warned of significant waste and financial damage as teams worked to restore systems, while the EU food and agriculture commissioner and company executives condemned the targeting of equipment essential to food preservation.
Investigations point to vulnerabilities in refrigeration-control equipment from Danish manufacturer Danfoss, notably legacy AK-SM800 and AK-SC355 regulator systems running outdated firmware that no longer receive security updates. France’s cybersecurity agency identified a software vulnerability linked to a Danish supplier and is coordinating with European counterparts to warn other firms and curb spread. Cybersecurity experts said the simultaneous manipulation of hundreds of industrial units demonstrated technical sophistication and highlighted mounting risks from connecting long-isolated industrial gear to networks, prompting renewed calls for better patching, vendor support and protection of critical food-supply infrastructure.
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Michael Smith was sentenced to 18 months for using AI and thousands of bots to flood music streaming platforms with fake plays, earning him over $8 million in royalties. This case is the first DOJ prosecution involving AI-assisted music streaming fraud. (nytimes.com)
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Raven, an AI tool developed by Graylark Technologies, enables law enforcement to identify specific homes from interior photos by analyzing features and matching them with data from Zillow and Airbnb. The technology can geolocate interior images across millions of rental units worldwide, raising privacy concerns. (404media.co)
GPT-6 Astra helped jailbreak a Kindle to turn it into a photo slideshow device controlled by an AI agent. The project involved creating custom software to cycle through images and bypass restrictions on the device. (nirajrajgor.com)
Ukrainian strikes on Russian data centers did not eliminate Russian disinformation or bots on social media. The narrative linking the strikes to a reduction in disinformation is false, and the attacks were retaliatory actions unrelated to disinformation efforts. (machinesociety.ai)
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