Supermarket fridges hacked again: after France, northern Europe hit

Supermarket fridges hacked again: after France, northern Europe hit

On the night of 1–2 November, refrigeration systems in several thousand stores across Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden were targeted. The method looks like the one used against French supermarkets on 12 October: temperatures in fridges and freezers were changed remotely, and some of the food had to be thrown away.

Belgium and Luxembourg: limited damage

In Belgium, Carrefour confirmed that about fifteen of its 700 stores saw temperatures rise abnormally. Delhaize (part of Ahold Delhaize), Intermarché and Colruyt also reported problems in several dozen shops, but haven’t yet called it a hack. Ikea said only its Mons store was hit, where the freezers suddenly heated up at around 3 a.m. At a Delhaize near Brussels, a sign warned shoppers that the chilled and frozen aisles would stay empty.

The retailers say the impact was small. Stores opened as usual, losses were modest, and some shelves were restocked before customers arrived.

Sweden: freezers at 38 °C

In Sweden, the ICA and Coop chains reported similar faults. In one affected store, the units had been set to 50 °C, and a manager said he found a fridge at 38 °C when he arrived that morning. Local TV showed bags full of spoiled food being thrown out. Coop said six of its roughly 800 stores were hit, with equipment failing fully or partly, but its spokesperson said he had no evidence it was a cyberattack.

The French precedent

In France, the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI blamed the October attack on basic security failures. The refrigerated units involved were made by the Danish company Danfoss. Danfoss blamed the refrigeration installers, saying they hadn’t applied the latest software updates.