Cyber attack hits supermarkets in 7 European countries:Fridge and freezer temperatures rise to 70°C, tonnes of food spoiled

Cyber attacks targeted supermarket refrigerators and freezers in seven European countries. Hackers breached the online systems and raised the temperature of the refrigerators. As a result, milk, meat and other food items stored in the shops spoiled. Such cases have been reported in Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Estonia, Luxembourg, Finland and Ireland. In Belgium, the temperature in refrigerators at some stores rose to as high as 70°C. According to Euronews, the attacks took place between Sunday night and Monday morning. Earlier, on 12 October, hundreds of supermarkets in France were targeted in a similar attack. Lakh of euros’ worth of goods spoiled in Belgium In Belgium, the temperature in refrigerators at several supermarkets rose to 70°C. As a result, the food stored in the shops spoiled and goods worth lakhs of euros had to be thrown away. According to Belgian newspaper ‘Le Soir’, around 40 Delhaize stores, 15 Carrefour stores, 15 Intermarché stores and five Spar stores were affected. The refrigeration systems at a meat company and an IKEA store near the city of Mons were also affected. Belgium’s Centre for Cybersecurity confirmed the attack. A Delhaize spokesperson said that problems had been found in the refrigeration systems at several stores. The company took the necessary steps immediately to ensure that the shops could remain open. Carrefour also confirmed the cyberattack but said the damage was not extensive. Refrigerators shut down at 13 stores in Ireland The refrigeration systems at 13 of Irish supermarket chain SuperValu’s 223 stores were attacked. The company removed the chilled and frozen food stored in these refrigerators from sale. ICA and Coop supermarket stores in Sweden were also affected. Their freezer temperatures rose rapidly overnight. The manager of an ICA store in Stockholm said the attack took place at around 2 a.m. It was discovered at 5:30 a.m. By then, the temperature of all the store’s freezers had reached 50 degrees Celsius, spoiling the products stored inside them. According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the same thing happened at six Coop stores. The country’s cybersecurity agency is investigating the cases. Systems of 17 companies attacked in the Netherlands A Selver supermarket store in Estonia was affected. The temperature of its refrigerators rose to 50 degrees Celsius. In the Netherlands, the refrigerators and freezers of at least 17 companies were targeted. However, the names of the companies have not been disclosed. In Luxembourg, Delhaize shut down its ordering system as a precaution. According to Finnish media, several K-Group supermarkets there were also affected. Temperature raised by putting fridges into defrost mode According to Stefaan Moelants, CEO of Belgian company Sabcobel, the attack was similar to a previous attack in France. Hackers put the fridges’ cooling units into defrost mode. In this mode, cooling is switched off to melt the ice in the fridges. As a result, the temperature began to rise. Moelants said the problem could not be fixed through a software update alone. Some changes would also have to be made to the fridges’ systems. No hacker group claimed responsibility Supermarket fridges and freezers can now be controlled remotely over the internet. As a result, if they malfunction or are hacked, all the goods in the shops could be ruined. A spokesperson for the European Commission said these incidents showed that cyber-attacks could affect not only companies but also ordinary people’s daily lives. So far, no hacker group has claimed responsibility for these attacks. It is also not known who was behind the attacks in France last month.