alt Hacker NewsWhat's the incentive here? Just some tech anarchism? I would have figured that they at least demand bitcoin to reverse it or something. I know, people will blame the Russians, but seems not super productive for them to do such mundane sabotage on such non-critical systems.
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Russian hybrid warfare focuses on stoking fear and unrest.
Basically making everything more shitty, and having people walk on eggshells - so that they'll vote for isolationist parties that are either neutral, or will outright appease Russia.
The idea is that no-one in Europe actually wants to go to war with Russia, and small remainders like these is enough to increase that fear.
It's very simple. Anything that hurts the enemy is good. That includes the civilian population. Actions like this increase general discontent, produce negative economic impact and divert attention from other areas.
And the required investment is minimal.
Seems likely that its either a capability demonstration for a future extortion campaign, or some kind of state-level hybrid warfare. In the latter case the obvious culprit is Russia, to create fear and social disruption.
Or another ai has broken containment and has a fixation about freezers...
General unrest, as well as stress testing critical infrastructure, and perhaps most importantly shifting the window for what counts as acts of aggression that don't trigger retaliation.
Invading Ukraine is not productive either, yet they are still at it murdering Ukrainians for four years and counting.
When you are 16, the incentive is just to feel power.
Not saying we know anything about who did it, but senseless vandalism is usually a hallmark of kids.
>but seems not super productive for them to do such mundane sabotage on such non-critical systems.
The hell makes you think food supply chain refrigeration is non-critical? How do you think safe food supplies work? This type of attack should be treated as an overt act of war.
These fridges were easy enough to hit that it could just be bored teens fucking around with shodan.
> I know, people will blame the Russians, but seems not super productive for them to do such mundane sabotage
It is staggering to me the difference in people that come to HN.
This is one of the thousands of ways a hybrid war is fought!
Wild guess: vegan activists (terrorists), given it mostly affects meat and dairy.
On the contrary, sabotaging things that impact everyday life and give a generalized feeling of decline throughout society is water on the mills of Russia's allies in Europe, notably the nationalist and populist parties.