Cyberattacks on European Supermarket Cooling Systems Force Food Disposal

Supermarkets across Europe were forced to discard food after cyberattacks raised temperatures in refrigerators and freezers on Monday, November 2. Affected businesses included Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt in Belgium and Luxembourg, along with Sweden's ICA and Coop. Retailers in Ireland also reported disruption, while IKEA confirmed that at least one Belgian store had been affected.

At an ICA franchise in Stockholm, sales manager Engla Ingwall told Reuters that the attack happened at 2 a.m. local time but went unnoticed for several hours. She said all the store's freezers had reached 50 degrees Celsius. ICA, which is privately held, confirmed that an overnight incident had disrupted cooling systems at a limited number of stores.

The incidents followed an attack in France last month in which hackers took control of cooling equipment at hundreds of supermarkets, according to police. That attack caused fires and food losses. Ahold also reported a cybersecurity incident to police last month. No one has claimed responsibility for either attack, and Reuters could not establish who carried out Monday's attacks or whether they were connected to those in France.

Belgian retailers reported damage across several businesses. Colruyt Group, which operates Spar stores through franchises in Belgium, said five shops had their refrigeration systems attacked. Carrefour reported that 15 of its 700 Belgian stores were affected, after suffering significant disruption in France last month. IKEA said one Belgian location was impacted and that problems elsewhere could not be ruled out.

In Sweden, privately held Coop said unauthorized interference with its refrigeration systems affected seven of its 800 stores. Irish wholesaler Musgrave reported problems at 13 SuperValu locations, requiring some chilled and frozen goods to be withdrawn from sale. The company said monitoring systems had flagged the issue, prompting immediate action, and its investigation was continuing.

Some of the refrigeration equipment affected on Monday used temperature control technology supplied by Denmark's Danfoss, whose technology was also targeted in France. Danfoss said it was working with customers to implement fixes. Coop identified the company as one of its suppliers. The growing ability to operate equipment remotely, including refrigerators, heating systems, cameras and alarms, has created additional opportunities for cybercriminals.

Katrien Eggers, spokesperson for Belgium's Center for Cybersecurity, said the attackers' identities were unknown and might never be established. She expressed concern about the increasing number of incidents and said artificial intelligence could help sophisticated actors exploit weaknesses in IT systems. EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen described the attacks as deliberate efforts to disrupt food supplies and weaken consumer confidence.

Tom Hegel, a researcher at cybersecurity company SentinelOne, said attacks of this kind were commonly associated with extortion, political objectives or state operations. He said the lack of financial demands in recent cases pointed toward sabotage. Retailers operate extensive networks of connected equipment, making them accessible targets, he said, while intrusions through exposed control panels can leave little evidence to identify the perpetrators.

The attacks have intensified European concerns about threats to infrastructure amid heightened security tensions since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in sabotage or hybrid warfare operations. At a store south of Antwerp, Belgian butcher Luc De Laet found refrigerators set as high as 18 degrees Celsius after an employee alerted him at 3:30 a.m. He estimated that about €15,000, or $16,800, worth of meat was ruined. De Laet said he contacted police but did not know whether an investigation had begun.