Suspected cyberattack hits fridges in dozens of stores across seven European countries

BBC News Arabic reported that dozens of major stores in seven European countries were hit by a suspected cyberattack that affected refrigerators and freezers there.

According to the report, about 40 stores in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected. Fewer stores were affected in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia.

Reports indicate that temperatures inside refrigerators in several European stores rose to 50 °C (122 °F). BBC cited local media as saying that authorities were forced to dispose of food worth millions of euros.

Sabcobel, the Belgian company that manufactures some of the affected refrigerators, said their cooling evaporators switched to defrost mode, which raised temperatures inside the units.

Chief Executive Stefan Moulans told the Belga news agency that what happened was a cyberattack. He added that the company is “working through the night and morning to disconnect the affected units from the network.”

According to Moulans, since the attack in France in early October, the company has been working to “protect customers’ refrigerators from this security vulnerability.” He said the units require manual adjustments, not only software updates. He added: “The simplest solution is to control the refrigerators through a secure internet connection. Most of our customers switched to that after the attack in France.”

The same method is believed to have been used in an attack last month on hundreds of major stores in France. The party behind the attack remains unknown.

National cybersecurity agencies in Belgium and Sweden said they are monitoring the incident. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said it is working with international partners and the sector concerned “to fully understand the details of the incident.” No incidents have been recorded in the United Kingdom.

Details from affected companies

The Flanders division of Delhaize told a news website that it lost products worth about €100,000. The division’s manager said this estimate does not include additional losses resulting from closing the store.

Carrefour said the incident affected only 15 of its stores in Belgium and that it took immediate steps to keep all stores open.

A spokesperson for Colruyt Group, which operates Spar stores in Belgium, told Reuters that refrigeration systems in five stores were attacked.

In Ireland, 13 SuperValu branches were affected. A spokesperson for Musgrave Group, which owns the chain, told The Irish Times that a “cyber incident” affected its refrigeration systems. The spokesperson added that the impact was limited to a “specific model” of refrigerators.

In the Netherlands, a spokesperson for Danish company Danfoss said refrigeration and freezing systems at no fewer than 17 commercial facilities were attacked overnight. This included butcher shops and small stores in neighbourhoods.