Grocery store cyberattacks are psychological warfare that could strike US, former FBI agent warns

Former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker warned that the next attack on Americans sense of security could come through the grocery aisle after suspected hackers have turned up supermarket freezer temperatures in Europe and fueled fears that everyday necessities could become weapons of "psychological warfare."

Parker warned that cyberattacks targeting the systems people rely on for food and other essentials could also strike the United States.

"Every human being has to eat," Parker told Fox News Digital. "This is the grocery store."

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Her warning comes as the Army Criminal Investigation Divisions Cyber Field Office works with the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service to determine what caused refrigeration failures at military commissaries in August, an Army CID spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Investigators are also working with French law enforcement as they examine whether the U.S. failures could be linked to refrigeration outages in Europe. A cyberattack has not been established as the cause of the military commissary malfunctions.

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At least six commissaries, grocery stores on military bases serving military personnel, experienced refrigeration problems in late August.

"ALL frozen food has spoiled," Fort Huachuca in Arizona said in an Aug. 26 Facebook post.

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Other affected locations included F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island, Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi and Travis Air Force Base and Fort Irwin in California. Fort Irwin limited commissary sales to dry goods after its malfunction.

In at least one case, refrigeration units were set to higher temperatures overnight rather than simply shutting off, Reuters reported.

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Separately, refrigeration systems at European supermarkets were disrupted Monday, forcing some retailers to discard food. Reuters reported that affected businesses included stores in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg, with temperatures in some systems reaching 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

Parker said the incidents underscore a threat she has long discussed with former FBI colleagues: cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure.

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"What we're seeing right now and ot