Cyberattacks Disrupt Supermarket Refrigeration Across Europe

On November 2, grocery chains across Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia said their refrigerators and freezers were malfunctioning. The incidents drove temperatures up in some stores and led retailers to remove chilled and frozen products from sale or discard them. Some reports also described affected facilities in the Netherlands.

In Sweden, Coop said six of its roughly 800 stores were affected, while ICA described the disruption as involving a limited number of locations. An ICA store in Sjobo said hackers had altered its cooling units’ settings, bringing the temperature to 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Belgian retailer Carrefour said 15 of its more than 700 stores were affected, with limited impact. Delhaize reported problems at several dozen stores, mostly in Belgium and a few in Luxembourg.

Ireland’s Musgrave, which owns SuperValu, said refrigeration problems affected 13 stores and that some products were taken off sale. In Estonia, one Selver location was affected, and a technology provider said attackers accessed a computer controlling refrigeration and raised the temperature. A Dutch refrigeration company also said 17 facilities using its systems were affected.

The incidents follow a cyberattack in France last month that disrupted refrigeration at hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores. In Belgium, refrigeration company Sabcobel’s chief executive said attackers switched units’ evaporators into defrost mode and that technicians worked overnight to disconnect affected equipment. Sweden’s national cybersecurity center is investigating incidents affecting grocery stores. No group has claimed responsibility for the European attacks.