Stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland report overnight temperature spikes that spoiled refrigerated and frozen stock.
Supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland reported overnight temperature spikes in their fridges and freezers, spoiling vast quantities of food in a suspected cyberattack.
The disruptions hit dozens of grocery locations overnight, according to The Guardian. The incident mirrors a similar breach in France last month where hackers remotely tampered with cooling hardware to spoil stock across hundreds of supermarkets.
Stores hit across multiple countries
Retailers in several nations discovered that their cooling units had climbed to extreme temperatures. In Sweden, an ICA branch in Sjöbo posted on social media: “Our refrigerators and freezers have been hacked overnight and they have set the temperature to 50 degrees.” The shop shut down temporarily before reopening to customers, while staff at an ICA location on Odengatan in Stockholm had to throw out bags of ruined groceries. ICA stated that a limited number of shops outside its central network were impacted.
Swedish chain Coop was also hit. The company told the Swedish daily Aftonbladet that six stores were affected, whereas BBC News reported that seven out of the retailer’s 800 Swedish shops experienced issues. Coop told the BBC the problem was contained and under control.
In Belgium and Luxembourg, around 40 Delhaize supermarkets were affected by what company spokesperson Sarah De Meester called an IT incident. A Delhaize shop in Hoeilaart, located in the province of Flemish Brabant, told Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws that it lost 100,000 euros worth of stock, an estimate that excluded additional financial damage from having to shut down.
Belgian newspaper Le Soir reported that five Spar outlets, several Proxy Delhaize minimarkets, and multiple Shop and Go stores at Q8 petrol stations also experienced cooling failures. Carrefour reported that 15 of its Belgian locations were affected, though it took immediate steps to keep the stores operating. In Ireland, 13 SuperValu shops suffered disruptions as well.
How cooling units were compromised
Refrigeration specialists worked through the night to cut network connections and halt further damage. Stephan Moelans, chief executive of cooling installation firm Sabcobel, told Le Soir: “We started mobilising technicians at 1am.” Technicians spent the rest of the night and morning taking compromised equipment off the grid.
Most commercial cooling systems rely on internet connectivity so technicians can adjust settings remotely and receive malfunction alerts. Local media reports indicate that millions of euros worth of chilled and frozen goods were thrown out across the affected countries.
The events follow an October cyberattack in France that struck cooling units at up to 700 supermarkets. French police found that intruders took control of thousands of freezers and chiller cabinets at chains including Intermarché, Coopérative U, Carrefour, Leclerc and Monoprix. Those intruders deactivated alarm systems and adjusted thermostats, driving temperatures from as low as minus 27 degrees Celsius to more than 50 degrees Celsius, or extended defrost programs by multiple hours.
The French incident led to heavy food waste, with individual stores losing tens of thousands of euros. Two shops in Alsace recorded combined losses of 270,000 euros. French investigators determined that attackers had breached controllers primarily manufactured by Danish company Danfoss, as well as equipment from two other firms. Danfoss stated it had spotted security vulnerabilities last year and had long urged clients to apply software updates.
Investigations and ongoing responses
Cybersecurity authorities in Belgium and Sweden said they are monitoring the latest wave of system disruptions. Ahold Delhaize, the Dutch parent firm of Delhaize, had previously filed a cybersecurity report with Dutch police last month.
In France, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a formal investigation into the October attack for damage involving fires and lost food. Following that earlier incident, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu directed national cybersecurity agency ANSSI to conduct an inquiry into the compromised supermarket systems.
