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Dozens of supermarkets in seven European countries have been affected by an alleged cyberattack that has affected their refrigerators and freezers.
Around 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, while a smaller number of stores were affected in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.
Sabcobel, a Belgian company that manufactures some of the affected refrigerators, said the units' evaporators were put into defrosting mode, causing them to warm up, in what is believed to be the same method used in last month's incident that affected hundreds of French supermarkets.
According to local media reports, food worth several million euros had to be thrown away.
Stephan Moelans, CEO of Sabcobel, the company that manages Delhaize's systems, told the Belgian News Agency that the incident was a cyberattack and that the company had been "working all night and morning to disconnect the affected units from the network."
Since the attack in France in early October, he explained, the company had been working to "protect our customers' refrigerators against this vulnerability," but that the units needed physical modifications, not just software updates.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Most supermarkets in Europe are connected to the internet, and maintenance and troubleshooting can be done remotely.
"The simplest solution is to manage the refrigerators through a secure network connection. Most of our customers opted for this option after the attack in France," added Moelans.
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It is unknown who is behind the apparent attack.
Freezer temperatures in several stores across Europe reportedly reached 50°C.
The national cybersecurity agencies of Belgium and Sweden indicated they were closely monitoring the incident.
The UK's National Cyber Security Center stated that it is working with international partners and industry to "thoroughly understand the details of what happened." These types of events have not been reported in British territory.
In Flanders, northern Belgium, a Delhaize branch in Hoeilaart told the news website Het Laatste Nieuws that it had lost 100,000 euros ($112,145) worth of products.
The manager said that estimate didn't even take into account the additional losses that would result from the store's closure.
Carrefour, a French-owned supermarket chain, said the incident had only affected 15 of its stores in Belgium, adding that steps had been taken immediately to ensure all stores remained open.
A spokesman for the Colruyt Group, which runs Spar stores in Belgium through a franchise system, told the Reuters news agency that five of its stores had suffered attacks on their refrigeration systems.
From supermarkets to neighborhood stores
In Sweden, several ICA and Coop stores were affected.
A spokesperson for the former company confirmed that the incident had affected a "small number of ICA stores operating outside the ICA core network."
"ICA is providing support to the affected stores so that they can manage the situation," they indicated.
One of the branches of this company located in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, wrote on social media: "Our refrigerators and freezers were hacked overnight and set the temperature to 50 degrees."
The store was previously closed, but has now reopened to the public.
Seven of Coop's 800 stores in Sweden were also affected, but "the situation is currently contained and under control," the company told the BBC.
In neighboring Finland, faults were detected in the refrigerators of some K supermarkets.
The owner of the Kesko supermarket chain told the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that its security experts were investigating the cause of the problem.
The attack also hit businesses in Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia.
In Ireland, the incident affected 13 SuperValu supermarkets. A spokesperson for the chain's owner, Musgrave Group, confirmed to The Irish Times that a "cyber incident" affected its refrigeration systems, but added that the impact was limited to a "specific model" of refrigerator.
A spokesperson for Danish manufacturer Danfoss told Dutch public radio station NOS that the freezing and refrigeration systems of at least 17 companies in the Netherlands were attacked overnight, affecting butcher shops and small neighborhood businesses.
A Selver supermarket in Estonia was also affected and, according to ERR, there are reports of other businesses affected in the country.
Additional reporting by Shiona McCallum.
This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
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