A cyberattack is hitting refrigerators across Europe

Supermarkets in several European countries saw their refrigerator temperatures soar and food spoil on Monday due to a cyberattack similar to the one that occurred in France three weeks ago.

Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, and the Netherlands were among those affected by this latest cyberattack. They were forced to throw away large quantities of food.

On October 12, major French retailers indicated that hundreds of their store refrigeration systems had been hit by a cyberattack, forcing them to throw away expired food and raising concerns about food safety.

European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, denounced "repeated and extremely worrying cyberattacks" and "a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence – a warning we must take seriously."

"Food security requires more attention at all levels. Targeting food" is now "a reality," he said after the cyberattacks against France.

No one has claimed responsibility for either attack.

"It's a cyberattack, there's no other reason," said Carrefour Belgium spokesman Mich Vergauwen, who on Monday reported disruptions in about fifteen of the chain's 700 stores in the country.

Ikea Belgium also announced that a cyberattack had hit its store in Mons, in southwestern Belgium, causing a sudden rise in freezer temperatures in the early hours of Monday.

The Delhaize, Colruyt, and Intermarché chains have also experienced technical problems affecting their refrigerators in Belgium. Delhaize also reported that four of its stores in Luxembourg were affected.

The Belgian industrial refrigeration group Sabcobel stated that it had begun to secure its facilities after the October 12 attack in France, but that approximately 10% of them had still not been inspected and that some were located in the stores affected on Monday.

Danish service provider

"If Sabcobel had not launched this operation, the impact would have been much greater," the company's CEO, Stephan Moelans, told AFP.

The Musgrave group, owner of the Supervalu chain in Ireland, among others, announced that 13 of its stores had been affected, as well as a small number of its convenience stores in the Netherlands.

In Sweden, the Coop chain confirmed that six of its approximately 800 stores had been victims of a cyberattack early Monday morning.

"We can confirm that this was a cyber incident. The problem has now been resolved and the refrigerators and freezers are working normally," spokesman Carlos Cancino told AFP.

He stated that Coop did not know who was behind the attack, but noted that the six affected stores were connected to a 4G mobile network, not the updated 5G system, making them "more exposed" to hackers.

The Swedish chain Ica also said that "a limited number" of its stores had experienced refrigeration problems, but the group could not confirm that a cyberattack was the cause.

According to Ica spokeswoman Helena Johansson, the stores in question were all connected to an external refrigeration control system supplied by the Danish manufacturer Danfoss – the same provider targeted in the October 12 cyberattack against French retailers.

She referred all questions to Danfoss, which did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

An Ica store located in Sjöbo, in southern Sweden, posted on Facebook that its refrigerators and freezers "had been hacked and the temperature had been set to 50°C.

"Vulnerabilities"

In Finland, irregular temperatures were also detected in some small supermarkets belonging to the Kesko group.

"We are currently investigating the cause, and interference via the network has not yet been ruled out," Petri Käyhkö, head of security for the Kesko group, told AFP.

Roni Kokkola, an information security specialist at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency's National Cyber Security Centre Traficom, did not rule out cyber interference against Finland.

"We have observed this phenomenon in Europe over the past few months, so the fact that it is spreading beyond France to other countries was expected," he told AFP. "It is now commonplace to see all kinds of vulnerabilities being exploited in an ever more active and rapid manner."

In Estonia, at least one supermarket was attacked by hackers who raised the temperature of the refrigeration units to 50°C, reported the public broadcaster ERR.

The devices were older models supplied by Danfoss, similar to those targeted in the attack in France, Jann Mutso, director of Kitman Coldtech, a manufacturer and distributor of connected refrigeration systems, told ERR. "The 'signature' is the same, but I can't say more," he added.

Following the attack in France, Danfoss explained to AFP that most of the equipment affected was old products, which "no longer receive software or security updates".

AFP