Hackers Hijack Supermarket Freezers Across Seven European Countries, Heating Them to 122 Degrees

BRUSSELS, Nov. 2 (TodayViralUSA) — Hackers remotely took over refrigeration systems at more than 100 supermarkets and small shops in at least seven European countries overnight into Monday, cranking some freezers up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) and forcing stores to throw out large amounts of chilled and frozen food.

Retailers in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Estonia and Finland reported problems, and several confirmed they had been hacked. The incidents mirror an attack last month in which hackers seized control of cooling units in as many as 700 French supermarkets, causing food losses estimated in the tens of millions of euros. No one has claimed responsibility for either wave.

Dozens of chains hit

Ahold Delhaize said refrigeration systems at around 40 of its stores in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected. Carrefour said 15 of its 700 Belgian stores were hit, none of them hypermarkets, while Intermarché reported about 15 affected shops and Colruyt Group said five franchised Spar stores were affected, according to BleepingComputer and the BBC. Ikea said freezers at its store in Mons, Belgium, warmed suddenly.

In Sweden, Coop said seven of its more than 800 stores were hit and ICA said a small number of stores outside its central network were affected. One ICA store in Sjöbo posted that its fridges and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees. Ireland’s SuperValu said 13 of its 223 shops were affected, limited to a specific refrigeration model. In the Netherlands, at least 17 butcher shops and neighborhood stores were hit, and one Selver supermarket was affected in Estonia. Finland’s Kesko said it was investigating malfunctions at some stores.

A Delhaize branch in Hoeilaart, Belgium, told Het Laatste Nieuws it lost about €100,000 worth of produce.

How the attack worked

Stephan Moelans, chief executive of Sabcobel, which operates Delhaize’s refrigeration systems, said the attackers switched the units’ evaporators to defrost mode, the same method used in France. He said technicians began disconnecting affected installations at 1 a.m. and that protecting the equipment requires physical modifications, not just software updates.

In the French attack, hackers compromised controllers mostly supplied by Danish manufacturer Danfoss, which has said it identified security flaws last year and recommended updates. Sweden’s national cybersecurity center said the country had many exposed operational technology devices that need updating or patching.

Concern in Brussels and beyond

EU food and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen called the attacks “a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumers’ confidence in it.” Tom Hegel of cybersecurity firm SentinelOne told Reuters that the lack of any ransom demand points to sabotage.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said it was working with international partners, though no incidents have been reported in the UK. The BBC noted that U.S. authorities are investigating refrigeration malfunctions at several American military bases in August and are working with French officials to see whether those incidents could be linked.