The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is probing unexplained freezer and refrigerator failures that spoiled food at military bases across the United States, amid concerns that the outages may have resulted from a cyberattack.
The Army CID Cyber Field Office is coordinating with the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service to identify the cause of refrigeration breakdowns at military commissaries in August, an Army CID spokesperson told Fox News.
Investigators are also cooperating with French authorities as they examine a string of refrigeration failures in Europe and determine whether the incidents may be linked.
A woman walks past empty fresh-food refrigerators at an Intermarché supermarket in Névez, western France, Oct. 12, 2026, after a cyberattack affecting the French supermarket chains Intermarché and Cooperative U that caused their refrigerators to defrost. (Fred Tanneau/AFP via Getty Images)
Reuters first reported the investigation. According to the outlet, at least six commissaries — on-base stores where service members purchase food — experienced sudden refrigeration failures in late August.
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Officials are investigating whether a cyberattack caused the unexplained refrigeration failures, but they have not publicly identified the source of the malfunctions or attributed them to a specific actor. (iStock via Getty Images)
Fort Huachuca in Arizona said in a Facebook post dated Aug. 26 that one freezer had “went into defrost mode where it heated up all the food,” Reuters reported.
“Trust us when we say it was ‘spoiled,’” the base wrote.
In at least one incident, the temperature settings on refrigeration units were raised overnight, leaving substantial amounts of food wilted or spoiled by the following morning, according to Reuters.
The investigation comes weeks after a suspected cyberattack hit hundreds of French supermarkets. Hackers allegedly manipulated refrigeration systems, driving temperatures as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The extreme heat spoiled significant quantities of food and was linked to fires reported across Europe.
