Cyber-Attack Fears as Supermarket Freezers in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg Are Hit

Supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg have reported overnight disruptions to their refrigeration and freezer systems, raising fears of a second major cyber-attack targeting food storage facilities across Europe.

The incidents affected dozens of stores, with cooling systems recording unexpected temperature increases that could put fresh and frozen food products at risk.

Sweden’s supermarket chain Coop told local newspaper Aftonbladet on Monday that six of its stores had been affected. Rival retailer ICA also confirmed that a limited number of its outlets experienced an overnight incident involving refrigeration and freezer systems.

Meanwhile, Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize disclosed that an information technology incident had affected refrigerators and freezers in dozens of its supermarkets across Belgium and Luxembourg.

The company’s spokesperson, Sarah De Meester, confirmed that temperatures in the affected cooling systems had risen, adding that investigations were ongoing to establish what happened.

Belgian newspaper Le Soir reported that several supermarket outlets were affected, including five Spar stores, multiple Shop & Go convenience stores attached to Q8 service stations and some Proxy Delhaize minimarkets.

Stephan Moelans, chief executive of refrigeration installation company Sabcobel, said technicians were mobilised during the early hours of Monday to respond to the incident.

“We started mobilising technicians at 1am,” he said. “We spent all night and morning disconnecting the affected installations from the grid.”

The latest incidents have raised concerns about a possible repeat of a cyber-attack in France in October, when hackers reportedly seized control of refrigeration systems at up to 700 supermarkets.

During that attack, hackers remotely manipulated the settings of thousands of freezers, refrigerators and chiller cabinets, raising temperatures from as low as minus 27 degrees Celsius to more than 50 degrees Celsius.

Major French supermarket chains, including Intermarché, Coopérative U, Carrefour, Leclerc and Monoprix, were among those affected.

The disruption forced stores to dispose of large quantities of fresh meat, dairy products and frozen food after their storage conditions were compromised. Some supermarkets reportedly suffered losses running into tens of thousands of euros, while two outlets in Alsace recorded combined losses of €270,000.

Investigations into the French incident revealed that hackers had disabled alarm systems before changing thermostat settings or extending defrost programmes for several hours.

Most supermarket refrigeration systems are connected to the internet to allow remote maintenance and alerts when equipment develops faults. However, the connectivity also creates potential security vulnerabilities if the systems are not adequately protected.

The Danish company Danfoss, whose controllers were reportedly targeted in the French incident, said it had identified security weaknesses the previous year and had repeatedly advised customers to install software updates.

The Paris prosecutor’s office opened a formal investigation into the French attack, which reportedly caused food losses and fires. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also directed the country’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, to investigate.

ANSSI subsequently confirmed that supermarket systems using controllers from two other companies had also been targeted.

Although authorities have not established whether the latest incidents in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg are connected to the French attack, the developments have heightened concerns about the security of internet-connected refrigeration systems across Europe.