Cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems cause food losses in Europe
Hackers remotely increased temperatures in freezers across Sweden and Belgium, destroying food stocks worth millions of euros.
Cyberattacks targeting supermarket refrigeration systems in Sweden and Belgium have caused significant food spoilage after freezers were remotely heated to temperatures as high as 55°C, according to Moneycontrol.
In Sweden, at least four Ica outlets and six Coop stores were affected. Rickard Nilsson, head of an Ica store in Sjöbo, said employees lost control of the systems as hot air was pumped into freezers, destroying food worth hundreds of thousands of Swedish krona.
The disruption in Belgium affected approximately 40 Delhaize stores, 15 Carrefour outlets, and five Spar shops. Ahold Delhaize acknowledged an IT incident affecting refrigeration systems at several Delhaize stores and stated it is assessing the situation.
These incidents follow similar attacks in France last month that affected hundreds of supermarkets, where one refrigerator reportedly reached 80°C. The French incidents are being investigated by the Paris public prosecutor's office and the national cybersecurity agency, Anssi.
Many affected units used software from the Danish industrial group Danfoss. Danfoss stated last month that the attacks impacted systems running outdated firmware that were no longer receiving security updates.
Cybersecurity researchers at Claroty had previously identified multiple vulnerabilities in Danfoss systems in an August report, which the company has since addressed.