International Desk, Nov 2 (EFE).- Cyberattacks targeting refrigeration systems at supermarkets and other businesses have affected establishments in at least five European countries, causing food spoilage, precautionary product withdrawals and equipment temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius in Sweden, three weeks after a similar incident in France.
The incidents, reported between Sunday night and Monday morning, affected Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Figures provided by companies include around 40 Delhaize supermarkets and 15 Carrefour stores in Belgium, 13 SuperValu outlets in Ireland and 17 businesses in the Netherlands, along with other establishments whose numbers have not yet been specified.
The financial impact of the latest wave remains unclear.
In Belgium, some businesses had to discard products because the cold chain had been broken, while others used refrigerated trucks to preserve their stock.
In Ireland, refrigerated and frozen products from affected supermarkets were withdrawn from sale as a precaution.
The incidents followed a similar pattern. Attackers remotely accessed internet-connected computers linked to refrigeration systems and manipulated their operation, raising temperatures or activating defrost mode.
However, the information available so far does not establish whether all the incidents were part of the same operation.
In Belgium, which reported one of the largest numbers of affected businesses, the problems began around midnight. Some freezers reached temperatures of about 15 degrees Celsius, according to public broadcaster RTBF.
The manager of several Delhaize supermarkets in Brussels told the broadcaster that alarms on his phone woke him at around 3 a.m. When he went to one of his stores, he found that the compressors had stopped working and the refrigerators were blowing hot air.
Alongside Delhaize and Carrefour, local media reported incidents at Spar stores and a chain of butcher shops in Antwerp.
Refrigeration installation company Sabcobel detected around 20 affected systems among the hundreds it manages in Belgium and dispatched technicians from 1 a.m.
Delhaize also confirmed to EFE that stores in Luxembourg had experienced problems, although it did not specify how many. The company said its teams were assessing the extent of the incident.
Temperatures of up to 50 degrees and food withdrawals
In Sweden, Ica, the country’s largest supermarket chain, acknowledged attacks affecting a limited number of stores but did not specify how many or where they were located.
Coop also reported incidents at several outlets and said temperatures in some of its refrigeration equipment had reached as high as 50 degrees Celsius. The National Centre for Cyber Security has opened an investigation.
In Ireland, Musgrave, the owner of SuperValu, said the problem was limited to a specific model of refrigeration equipment installed in 13 supermarkets.
The company said its monitoring systems detected the incident and that it took immediate action.
Musgrave said it continued selling other products and that food still available for sale had been kept at safe temperatures.
It is working with equipment suppliers and cybersecurity specialists to restore normal operations.
In the Netherlands, equipment supplier Danfoss confirmed attacks affecting 17 businesses, mainly butcher shops and small stores. No incidents were reported at major supermarket chains.
One affected site was a frozen-food warehouse where the temperature rose from the usual minus 20 degrees Celsius to minus 10 degrees.
The company said it intervened quickly but did not specify whether any food had to be discarded or whether financial losses had been incurred.
According to Danfoss, the affected systems used default passwords and were connected to networks without adequate protection.
The company had warned its Dutch customers in mid-October and recommended disconnecting the equipment from the internet or restricting access through secure networks.
A spokesperson said the attacks could have been prevented by following those recommendations.
The most significant previous incident occurred in France on the night of Oct. 11-12, when refrigeration systems at hundreds of supermarkets belonging to chains including Intermarché, Coopérative U, Carrefour, E.Leclerc and Monoprix were attacked.
The manipulation of the equipment forced businesses to destroy food and also caused fires, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Some refrigerators in that incident were reportedly raised to 50 degrees Celsius for six hours.
The president of Intermarché estimated that losses across the sector could reach tens of millions of euros in a single day.
Separately, Albert Heijn, the Netherlands’ largest supermarket chain, suffered another IT incident in October that disrupted supplies and online orders.
There is currently no evidence linking that incident to the attacks on refrigeration systems. EFE
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