Grocery stores across at least nine European countries were hit Monday by a suspected cyberattack on their freezer systems, prompting the EU to warn of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc’s food supply chain.
Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden reported refrigeration problems that forced some retailers to discard food after temperatures rose overnight.
Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden reported refrigeration problems that forced some retailers to discard food after temperatures rose overnight. Delhaize, Colruyt and Intermarche also reported refrigeration problems at stores in Belgium, while four Delhaize outlets in Luxembourg were affected. In Estonia, at least one supermarket was attacked by hackers who raised the temperature in the refrigeration units to 50C, public broadcaster ERR reported.
The Italian government was to hold a cybersecurity meeting with intelligence services on Tuesday. Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel said it had begun securing its installations after the October attack in France, but some systems had yet to be upgraded and were among those affected on Monday. The incident came three weeks after a cyberattack disrupted French grocery stores and led hundreds of outlets to throw away spoiled stock. No one has claimed responsibility for either incident. Belgium was among the hardest-hit countries, with dozens of stores across several grocery chains reporting refrigeration failures. Federal prosecutors opened an investigation. A small number of corner shops in the Netherlands also suffered disruptions. “We can confirm that it is a cyber incident. She referred all queries to Danfoss, which had yet to respond to an AFP request for a comment. In Finland, irregular temperatures had also been detected in a few smaller grocery stores belonging to the Kesko group. Roni Kokkola, an information security specialist at the National Cyber Security Centre at Finland’s Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, would not rule out cyber interference. “Nowadays it’s very typical that all kinds of vulnerabilities are being exploited ever more actively and rapidly.
Carrefour Belgium said around 15 stores were affected, while Ikea said its Mons outlet also experienced a cyberattack that caused freezer temperatures to rise. In Ireland, retailer Musgrave said 13 Supervalu stores were impacted by what it described as a cyber incident. And in Sweden, chain Coop confirmed six of its around 800 stores had been hit. The affected stores were all connected to an external refrigeration control system provided by Danish manufacturer Danfoss — the same supplier targeted in the October 12 cyberattack on French retailers, according to Ica spokesperson Helena Johansson.
EU food and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen said the bloc was taking the incidents “very seriously”. “They are a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumers’ confidence in it — a warning that we must take seriously,” Hansen said. In Italy, at least four supermarkets in Sicily and one business in Tuscany were affected, according to media reports and the national cybersecurity agency. “It’s a cyberattack, there is no other reason,” said Mich Vergauwen, a spokesman for Carrefour Belgium which reported disruption in about 15 of its 700 stores. In Portugal, the Mosqueteiros group confirmed to AFP incidents at seven Intermarche stores linked to a cyberattack, which “appears to have targeted an external service provider responsible for managing the refrigeration systems”. The problem has now been resolved and the fridges and freezers are working as normal,” spokesman Carlos Cancino told AFP. He said Coop did not know who was behind the attack, but noted that the affected stores had been connected to a 4G mobile network, not the updated 5G system, which made them “more exposed” to hackers. ‘Vulnerabilities’ Swedish chain Ica also said “a limited number” of its stores experienced refrigeration problems, without confirming a cyberattack. “We are currently investigating the cause, and interference via the network has not yet been ruled out,” Petri Kayhko, head of Kesko’s corporate security, told AFP. “We’ve seen this in Europe in the past few months, so it spreading beyond France to other countries has been expected,” he told AFP. The units were older models delivered by Danfoss, similar to the ones targeted in the France attack, Jann Mutso, director of Kitman Coldtech, a manufacturer and distributor of advanced refrigeration systems, told ERR. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
