Hackers turn supermarket fridges into ovens in ‘unprecedented’ cyberattack across France
An unprecedented cyberattack struck hundreds of supermarkets across France after hackers remotely manipulated internet-connected refrigeration systems.
According to French media, hackers raise temperatures in fridges at hundreds of supermarkets, sparking fires and spoiling food in ‘large-scale’ cyberattack.
A cyber incident disrupted a small UK power generation facility for about four days in July 2026, raising concerns over the security of operational technology (OT) used in energy sites.
The event did not cause consumer power outages, and the wider UK electricity network continued to operate normally.
The incident became public on August 22 after media reports claimed that hackers believed to be linked to Iran had affected a British energy facility.
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero later confirmed that a cyber incident had impacted a small-scale power generator. However, authorities have not named the operator or the affected plant.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the generator was very small when compared with major UK power stations. Financial Times reporting identified the affected site as an approximately 15 MW gas-fired peaking plant.
Such facilities provide additional generation during high-demand periods, but the loss of one small site did not create a national electricity-supply risk.
Still, the four-day outage is significant. A small plant may not threaten grid stability, but it relies on digital systems to monitor, start, stop and manage physical equipment.
A cyber incident affecting engineering workstations, remote-access systems, industrial control networks or supporting IT can force operators to suspend production while they investigate and validate the environment.
Terrorists could use AI to target UK with drones and bioweapons, MI5 chief warns
Sir Ken McCallum said UK was entering ‘new era of national security’ with most threats since the Cold War, as he warned against rising danger from Russia and Iran
Terrorists could exploit artificial intelligence to target Britain with drones or biological weapons, the head of MI5 has warned.
Speaking after his annual speech at MI5 headquarters in London, Sir Ken McCallum said the UK had entered a “new era of national security” and the security service was directing more resources to keeping Britain safe now than in the Cold War, warning that essential services such as banking, flights, and healthcare were at risk of being disrupted by adversaries, including Iran and Russia.
He warned about the growing threat of AI provoking real fear that terrorists could use the technology for warfare, saying “we’ve caught terrorists seeking to exploit AI to improve their reconnaissance and attack methodologies”.
He said the possibility of AI-enabled drones added “a new twist” for bad actors and warned the greatest concern is “AI’s potential to change the stakes on existing or even new bioweapons”.
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
