Freezers in five European nations fail after cyberattacks
Stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Estonia reported temperature spikes that forced staff to discard spoiled food.
By Luana Sato ·
Supermarkets across five European countries experienced cooling system failures on Monday that appear to be the result of cyberattacks.
The incidents affected stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Estonia. The problem followed a similar event last month in France, where attackers remotely controlled refrigeration units in hundreds of locations.
Gustaf Nilsson, a spokesperson for the ICA Group in Sweden, told the TT news agency that a limited number of stores were affected overnight. He did not provide a specific count. One ICA Kvantum location in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, stated that its units were hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Staff at that store began discarding affected products.
The Coop chain reported issues at six stores in central Sweden. In Belgium and Luxembourg, the Delhaize chain said an IT incident impacted refrigeration systems in several dozen stores. Spokesperson Sarah De Meester noted that distribution centers operated normally and that fresh product ranges were temporarily limited in affected locations.
Carrefour stated that a cyberattack targeting refrigeration systems affected 15 of its more than 700 stores in Belgium. The company described the overall impact as extremely limited.
In Estonia, the refrigeration technology firm Kitman Coldtech said attackers accessed a computer controlling a client's system and raised the temperature to 50 degrees Celsius. Chief Executive Jann Mutso said the issue was resolved within minutes and caused no major damage. The Selver supermarket chain confirmed that one of its outlets was involved.
In Ireland, the Musgrave Group reported that refrigeration systems in 13 SuperValu stores were affected by a cyber incident. A spokesperson said chilled and frozen products were removed from sale as a precaution. By Monday afternoon, the company said the incident was fully resolved and that restocking of those product lines was well under way.
