Refrigeration disruptions hit supermarkets across Europe amid cybersecurity concerns
LONDON/HELSINKI, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- A cyber incident affected refrigeration systems at 13 stores operated by Irish supermarket chain SuperValu on Monday, as similar disruptions were reported across several European countries, raising concerns over the cybersecurity of food retail infrastructure.
Musgrave Group, which owns SuperValu, said the incident was limited to a specific model of refrigeration equipment, forcing the affected stores to remove chilled and frozen food products from sale as a precautionary measure.
"Our monitoring systems alerted us to the issue and we took immediate action," a company spokesperson said, adding that other products remained available as normal.
The company said it was working with equipment suppliers and cybersecurity specialists to investigate the incident and restore normal operations.
In Sweden, grocery retailer Axfood said the freezer systems at a distribution center handling deliveries of groceries had been hacked.
Other Swedish supermarket chains, including ICA and Coop, also reported refrigeration problems overnight. Coop said six of its stores were affected, while ICA confirmed disruptions at a limited number of locations.
One ICA store reported that its refrigeration and freezer temperatures had been set to 50 degrees Celsius following a suspected cyberattack.
Similar incidents were reported in Belgium and Luxembourg, where supermarket chain Delhaize, owned by retail group Ahold Delhaize, said an IT incident had affected refrigeration systems at dozens of stores.
Belgian retailer Colruyt Group also reported that refrigeration systems at five Spar stores had been attacked.
The incidents followed a major cyberattack in France in October, when hackers gained control of refrigeration systems at hundreds of supermarkets, causing temperatures to rise sharply and resulting in substantial food losses and, in some cases, fires, according to French police.
Authorities have not established whether the latest incidents across Europe are connected or who may be responsible. ■
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