European supermarkets have once again become targets of cyber attacks, with refrigerators and freezers in stores across a wide area of the continent, from Sweden to Belgium, experiencing temperature disruptions on Monday. This recalls a similar incident in France last month.
Initial Reports of Damage
Supermarket chains Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt reported that an IT incident last night affected the refrigeration and freezer systems in dozens of stores in Belgium and Luxembourg. Swedish stores, including ICA and Coop, have also reported similar temperature increases. Angela Ingval, a sales manager at an ICA store in Stockholm, said, "The attack occurred at 2 AM, but we noticed it a few hours later."
National Security Concerns
An ICA spokesperson stated in a statement that the company is aware of an incident affecting a limited number of stores that impacted their refrigeration and freezer systems. These new incidents follow an attack in France last month, where police reported that hackers took control of cooling units in hundreds of supermarkets, leading to fires and food losses. No one has claimed responsibility for these attacks, but they have raised growing concerns among regional officials about hybrid attacks stemming from tensions at European borders.
The Swedish National Cyber Security Center has announced that it is investigating several incidents related to grocery stores across the country. Jan Bilo, the head of this center, said, "In recent weeks, we have identified that a large number of operational technology devices in Sweden are at risk and need updates or modifications."
Recent cyber attacks on refrigerators and heating systems, particularly in retail chains, have heightened concerns about security vulnerabilities. Stefan Molans, CEO of the Belgian company Sabcobel, which manages Delhaize systems, confirmed that this incident was a cyber attack and that the units have switched to a defrost mode.
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