Cyberattacks against refrigeration systems caused abnormal temperature increases at European supermarkets this Monday (the 2nd), forcing establishments to remove and discard food. At an ICA store in Stockholm, Sweden, the freezers reached 50 °C, according to Reuters.
Engla Ingwall, the store's sales manager, reported that the attack occurred around 2 a.m., but was only noticed hours later. Describing the damage, she told the agency: “Everything was destroyed.”
The incidents hit establishments of different chains. In Belgium and Luxembourg, the Ahold Delhaize group confirmed problems in the refrigeration systems of dozens of stores. Colruyt reported that five Spar locations were affected, while Carrefour recorded attacks at 15 establishments in Belgium.
In Sweden, Coop confirmed problems at seven stores. In Ireland, the Musgrave group reported that 13 SuperValu supermarkets had their systems affected, leading to the precautionary removal of refrigerated and frozen products.
The consequences varied among establishments. While some stores lost goods, others managed to limit the damage. In Belgium, the owner of a chain of butcher shops estimated at approximately 15,000 euros the loss from compromised meats after refrigerator temperatures rose.
Some of the equipment involved uses temperature-control technology from Danish manufacturer Danfoss, which said it is working with customers to implement fixes. These systems allow refrigeration to be monitored and adjusted remotely, but vulnerable interfaces may enable improper manipulation of the equipment.
The incidents occurred a few weeks after a similar attack in France, where hundreds of establishments had refrigeration systems compromised in October. The perpetrators of the new attacks remain unknown, and a link between the incidents has not yet been proven.
