Hackers Raise Temperatures in European Store Fridges

A cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration systems spread across Europe on Monday, affecting stores in Belgium, Sweden, and Ireland. The incident forced retailers to discard food products after the temperature of their fridges and freezers rose significantly.

The attack targeted refrigeration units from Danish firm Danfoss, which is also implicated in a similar disruption in France last month. No group has claimed responsibility for the Monday incident, though authorities are investigating the event.

In Stockholm, sales manager Engla Ingwall stated that the attack occurred at 2 a.m. but was not detected for several hours. She reported that freezers at her ICA franchise store reached 50 degrees Celsius. An ICA spokesperson confirmed that a limited number of stores experienced an overnight incident that impacted their refrigeration and freezer systems.

In Belgium, Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt reported issues at multiple locations. Colruyt said five of its shops had their fridge systems attacked. Carrefour, which operates 700 stores in Belgium, reported that 15 of those locations were affected. Ikea confirmed that at least one store in Belgium was impacted.

In Ireland, wholesaler Musgrave stated that the incident affected systems in 13 of its SuperValu stores. The company removed some chilled and frozen products from sale as a precaution.

Luc De Laet, owner of a butchery chain in Belgium, was alerted by an employee at 3:30 a.m. He found his fridges running at 18 degrees Celsius. He estimated that the incident ruined approximately 15,000 euros of meat. De Laet told Reuters that it was infuriating to discard the product and that he believed the hackers were attempting to destabilize European economies.

Katrien Eggers, a spokesperson for Belgium's Centre for Cybersecurity, said it is not known who is behind the attack. She noted that AI can now be used to exploit weaknesses in IT systems. Christophe Hansen, the EU commissioner for agriculture, described the repeated cyberattacks as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence.

Tom Hegel, a researcher at SentinelOne, said retail is an easy target because chains operate large numbers of refrigeration controllers and building management systems. He added that attackers logging into exposed control panels leave little evidence behind, making it difficult to distinguish between a teenager and an intelligence service.