Cyber attacks affect UK meat processing industry, top security official says

Cyber attacks have affected the UK meat processing industry, a top security official has said in the wake of hacks that hit supermarkets across Europe.

Paul Chichester, director of operations at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) added the impact was minimal but his organisation is working with the businesses involved.

He was speaking after hackers targeted fridges and freezers in supermarkets in several European countries, including Ireland and France, causing temperatures to increase and food to spoil.

Dr Richard Horne, head of the NCSC, said at the launch of the centre's annual report that teams had been working throughout the night to alert British firms that are vulnerable to such an attack.

He also revealed that the French attack in October involved legacy technology connected to the internet with default passwords.

An NCSC spokesperson said the body was "aware of a small number of UK organisations that may be affected by this incident", but said the organisation was still liaising with affected sectors to understand and mitigate its impact.

The NCSC head told Sky News' security correspondent Tom Cheshire that it was "simply too early to tell" who was behind recent attacks.

Talking about the recent hacks in mainland Europe, Cheshire said they "have shown us that this is an all of society thing, a message we keep hearing from government, but one that is really, really true".

Dr Horne said such attacks reinforced warnings from the defence secretary that people in the UK should stockpile food, water and emergency supplies.

The end of 'tech on the cheap'

In his speech launching the NCSC's annual report, Dr Horne said the UK is at risk because it has done "tech on the cheap" for decades.

The organisation has warned Britain faces the prospect of AI-boosted attacks on critical national infrastructure in the next two years.

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Hackers demanding ransom payments are "highly likely" to use AI to target the UK by 2028 and hostile states such as Russia and China will routinely use the technology to pursue their goals by then, the report found.

"Vulnerabilities that have been tolerated for far too long can now be discovered and exploited at a scale that was once unimaginable," Dr Horne warned.

He warned that if businesses do not take action now, they will have to explain why they did not heed the warning signs amid empty supermarket shelves and power blackouts.

(c) Sky News 2026: Cyber attacks affect UK meat processing industry, top security official says