Hackers Target European Grocery Stores Again, Switch Freezers to Defrost

A second coordinated cyberattack has hit supermarket chains across several European countries, causing temperature spikes in freezer units and leading to mass spoilage of frozen and chilled perishables, the BBC reports . It follows similar attacks in France last month. The attack hit 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as other chain stores in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Estonia. Like the hack in France, this one saw the refrigeration units switched to "Defrost," which in some cases caused temperatures to reach 50°C (122°F) inside the freezer units. Stephan Moelans, the CEO of Sabcobel, which operates the freezer systems in Delhaize supermarkets, confirmed that the freezers had been targeted in a cyberattack and that they had been working all night to disconnect the affected systems from the network to begin diagnosing the security issue. Although the attack appears to be much the same as the one in France, Moelans said it required hardware modification rather than just a software update, which had slowed the hardening of their devices' security. It's not clear whether all affected stores use the same Sabcobel systems, but only a handful of outlets were affected under other brands, such as Sweden's ICA and COOP supermarket chains. In Ireland, 13 SuperValu supermarkets were targeted, while 17 companies in the Netherlands were affected, including butchers and small neighborhood stores. Cybersecurity services from Belgium, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are reportedly coordinating their efforts to fully understand the incident. The head of Sweden's national cybersecurity center, John Billow, told Reuters that the organization had identified exposed "operational technology devices" that could be targeted by such attacks and urged the operators to patch them to improve security. On Mastodon, cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said the hackers exploited the same vulnerability used in the France attack. "Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available; they've just been left online to quite literally rot," Beaumont wrote. The attacks follow major hacks at UK companies like Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in 2025, which was bad enough that the UK government gave the automaker a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to stay afloat.

The attack hit 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as other chain stores in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Estonia. Like the hack in France, this one saw the refrigeration units switched to "Defrost," which in some cases caused temperatures to reach 50°C (122°F) inside the freezer units. Stephan Moelans, the CEO of Sabcobel, which operates the freezer systems in Delhaize supermarkets, confirmed that the freezers had been targeted in a cyberattack and that they had been working all night to disconnect the affected systems from the network to begin diagnosing the security issue. Although the attack appears to be much the same as the one in France, Moelans said it required hardware modification rather than just a software update, which had slowed the hardening of their devices' security. It's not clear whether all affected stores use the same Sabcobel systems, but only a handful of outlets were affected under other brands, such as Sweden's ICA and COOP supermarket chains. In Ireland, 13 SuperValu supermarkets were targeted, while 17 companies in the Netherlands were affected, including butchers and small neighborhood stores. Cybersecurity services from Belgium, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are reportedly coordinating their efforts to fully understand the incident. The head of Sweden's national cybersecurity center, John Billow, told Reuters that the organization had identified exposed "operational technology devices" that could be targeted by such attacks and urged the operators to patch them to improve security. On Mastodon, cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said the hackers exploited the same vulnerability used in the France attack. "Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available; they've just been left online to quite literally rot," Beaumont wrote. The attacks follow major hacks at UK companies like Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in 2025, which was bad enough that the UK government gave the automaker a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to stay afloat.

Stephan Moelans, the CEO of Sabcobel, which operates the freezer systems in Delhaize supermarkets, confirmed that the freezers had been targeted in a cyberattack and that they had been working all night to disconnect the affected systems from the network to begin diagnosing the security issue. Although the attack appears to be much the same as the one in France, Moelans said it required hardware modification rather than just a software update, which had slowed the hardening of their devices' security. It's not clear whether all affected stores use the same Sabcobel systems, but only a handful of outlets were affected under other brands, such as Sweden's ICA and COOP supermarket chains. In Ireland, 13 SuperValu supermarkets were targeted, while 17 companies in the Netherlands were affected, including butchers and small neighborhood stores. Cybersecurity services from Belgium, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are reportedly coordinating their efforts to fully understand the incident. The head of Sweden's national cybersecurity center, John Billow, told Reuters that the organization had identified exposed "operational technology devices" that could be targeted by such attacks and urged the operators to patch them to improve security. On Mastodon, cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said the hackers exploited the same vulnerability used in the France attack. "Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available; they've just been left online to quite literally rot," Beaumont wrote. The attacks follow major hacks at UK companies like Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in 2025, which was bad enough that the UK government gave the automaker a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to stay afloat.

It's not clear whether all affected stores use the same Sabcobel systems, but only a handful of outlets were affected under other brands, such as Sweden's ICA and COOP supermarket chains. In Ireland, 13 SuperValu supermarkets were targeted, while 17 companies in the Netherlands were affected, including butchers and small neighborhood stores. Cybersecurity services from Belgium, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are reportedly coordinating their efforts to fully understand the incident. The head of Sweden's national cybersecurity center, John Billow, told Reuters that the organization had identified exposed "operational technology devices" that could be targeted by such attacks and urged the operators to patch them to improve security. On Mastodon, cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said the hackers exploited the same vulnerability used in the France attack. "Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available; they've just been left online to quite literally rot," Beaumont wrote. The attacks follow major hacks at UK companies like Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in 2025, which was bad enough that the UK government gave the automaker a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to stay afloat.

Cybersecurity services from Belgium, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are reportedly coordinating their efforts to fully understand the incident. The head of Sweden's national cybersecurity center, John Billow, told Reuters that the organization had identified exposed "operational technology devices" that could be targeted by such attacks and urged the operators to patch them to improve security. On Mastodon, cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said the hackers exploited the same vulnerability used in the France attack. "Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available; they've just been left online to quite literally rot," Beaumont wrote. The attacks follow major hacks at UK companies like Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in 2025, which was bad enough that the UK government gave the automaker a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to stay afloat.

On Mastodon, cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said the hackers exploited the same vulnerability used in the France attack. "Many of the freezers are end of life and have no patch available; they've just been left online to quite literally rot," Beaumont wrote. The attacks follow major hacks at UK companies like Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in 2025, which was bad enough that the UK government gave the automaker a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to stay afloat.

The attacks follow major hacks at UK companies like Marks and Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover in 2025, which was bad enough that the UK government gave the automaker a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) loan to stay afloat.