A thermometer is an instrument that measures temperature. It is often a basic reference point because many other observations, sensors, and control systems are judged against a known temperature reading. In cyber security, that matters wherever physical conditions affect hardware, sensors, or automated responses, especially in industrial control systems, data centers, and IoT devices.
Attackers may tamper with thermometer readings to hide overheating, trigger false alarms, or mislead building-management and safety systems. Defenders use temperature monitoring to spot hardware faults, cooling failures, and signs of physical tampering. Temperature data can also help during incident response by showing whether equipment was stressed, powered down, or exposed to abnormal conditions. A thermometer is simple, but in connected environments its readings can influence real operational decisions.