Belgian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation after unknown cybercriminals targeted refrigeration systems in supermarkets. Affected sites included an Ikea store in Mons, which said it had removed some refrigerated food as a precaution.
Reports of disrupted refrigerators and freezers emerged overnight Monday from Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg and Estonia. Dozens of stores belonging to chains including Delhaize, Spar and Carrefour were reportedly affected. In Belgium and Luxembourg, the retail groups Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt also reported disruptions.
According to refrigeration specialist Sabcobel, the systems were remotely switched into defrost mode. Chief executive Stephan Moelans told Belga that the company began mobilising technicians at around 1 a.m. to contain the situation.
Some food had to be discarded after temperatures rose. A supermarket in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, said its refrigerators and freezers had been hacked and that affected products were later thrown away. A Stockholm ICA manager told Reuters that all the freezers at the branch had reached 10 degrees Celsius and that the contents had spoiled. Coop told Aftonbladet that six of its stores were affected.
Belgian butcher Luc De Laet said temperatures at his shop in Hove had risen to as high as 18 degrees Celsius, making meat products worth about 15,000 euros unusable.
The incidents follow similar cyberattacks in France in mid-October, when around 150 stores were affected. The attacks targeted freezers made by Danish technology company Danfoss, which confirmed that its products were also involved in the latest wave. Danfoss had released updates for newer equipment in August and advised customers to disconnect older systems that could no longer be updated.
Several European cybersecurity authorities had urged retailers to check and secure their refrigeration systems after the French incidents, including Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security. Why those measures were not implemented in every case remains under investigation. No successful attacks on German food retailers have been reported.
The European Commission said the incidents demonstrated how cyberattacks could disrupt services, affect companies and directly interfere with citizens’ daily lives. Agriculture and food commissioner Christophe Hansen described the attacks as a possible targeted attempt to disrupt the EU’s food supply and undermine consumer confidence, while stressing that food safety was not currently at risk.
No group has claimed responsibility. Tom Hegel, a researcher at cybersecurity company SentinelOne, said the lack of financial demands pointed more towards sabotage than extortion. He also noted that retailers were vulnerable because they operate large numbers of refrigeration controls and other connected systems, while perishable goods can spoil within hours.
Sources: Der Spiegel.