Supermarkets across several European countries have been hit by suspected cyberattacks after hackers allegedly gained control of refrigeration systems, causing temperatures in freezers and refrigerators to rise and threatening large quantities of food.
The incidents, reported on Monday, November 2, affected supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia, with some stores forced to discard spoiled fresh and frozen food.
One Swedish store on Monday said on social media that the temperature of its refrigerators and freezers had been set to 50 degrees Celsius, similar to the attack in France.
‘We are aware that a limited number of stores were affected by an incident overnight, which impacted their refrigeration and freezer systems,’ a spokesperson at privately held ICA said in an email.
Privately held grocery retail group Coop told daily Aftonbladet that six of its stores had been affected by similar incidents.
Sweden’s national cyber-security centre said it was working on several incidents affecting refrigeration systems in grocery stores across the country.
In Belgium and Luxembourg, dozens of freezers and refrigerators at Delhaize supermarket locations were affected by the cyberattack, according to local media.
Delhaize, as well as butcher shop De Laet & Van Haver, reported that the temperatures of their systems suddenly rose sharply.
Additionally, Carrefour Belgium reported on Monday morning that fifteen of its stores have been affected so far.
In Estonia, refrigerator company Kitman Coldtech said a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at an unnamed supermarket chain, but a quick response meant there was no damage.
Last month’s incident in France is being investigated by the country’s National Cybersecurity Agency.
France has also been coordinating with European counterparts because other countries could also be affected.
Carrefour said 80 of its supermarkets were hit, while Monoprix, which operates about 490 stores in France, said 5 per cent of its stores were affected.
Les Mousquetaires, owner of retailer Intermarché, said fridges at around 150 of its stores were heated up to 50 C for six hours overnight.
A spokesperson said all affected food had been discarded to eliminate health risks.