Cyberattacks hit supermarket freezers across Europe, threatening fresh and frozen food

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Supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia were hit Monday by problems with freezers and fridges that apparently were caused by cyberattacks, forcing some to dispose of ruined food.

The problems follow a case last month in which attackers remotely took control of refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores across France, sending temperatures soaring.

In Sweden, ICA Group supermarket chain spokesperson Gustaf Nilsson told news agency TT that “a limited number” of stores were affected overnight by an incident that affected refrigeration and freezing systems. He declined to give a specific number.

The ICA Kvantum branch in Sjöbo in southern Sweden wrote on its page that its fridges and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). It said it was working to discard the affected items.

The Coop chain said that six of its stores in central Sweden had problems with their fridges and freezers, TT reported, though it didn’t immediately have details.

The Delhaize chain said that an “IT incident” had affected refrigeration systems in several dozen of its stores, mostly in Belgium but also a few in neighboring Luxembourg.

“In the affected stores, the range of fresh and frozen products is temporarily somewhat limited. Our distribution centers are operating normally, and there has been no disruption to deliveries to our stores,” spokesperson Sarah De Meester said.

The Carrefour supermarket chain in Belgium said a “cyberattack targeting refrigeration installations only had an extremely limited impact,” affecting 15 of its more than 700 stores.

In Estonia, a company that makes the affected technology said that one of its clients had been hit by a cyberattack in which attackers accessed a computer controlling refrigeration and turned up the temperature to 50 degrees Celsius, public broadcaster ERR reported.

Jann Mutso, the CEO of Kitman Coldtech, declined to say which store’s cooling system had been affected but said that the attack was responded to within minutes and there was no significant damage. The Selver chain said one of its outlets was affected.

The cyberattacks in France appeared to target old systems.