Hot and cold: Europe’s supermarkets hit by another fridge hack

SUPERMARKETS across Europe were hit by suspected cyberattacks that resulted in sudden changes in the temperatures of their fridges and freezers on Monday (Nov 2), weeks after a similar but more widespread issue in France. 

Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour and Spar reported issues with their refrigerators and freezers in shops in Belgium. Supermarket chains in Sweden, Ireland and Finland were also affected, according to spokespeople and local media reports.

The incidents raise concerns of a repeat of the disruption that took place in France last month, when 700 stores were hit by cyberattacks that disabled refrigeration systems and forced shops to throw out damaged food. The Intermarche, Cooperative U and Carrefour chains were among those impacted.

No group has publicly claimed responsibility for the hack. 

Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize confirmed that an “IT incident” took place in a number of its Delhaize shops in Belgium on Sunday night, impacting the refrigeration systems.

The supermarket chain realised there were temperature increases in the cooling systems on Monday, Delhaize spokesperson Sarah De Meester said. The company is investigating the incident.

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A spokesperson for Carrefour Belgium said 15 of its 700 outlets are impacted. A spokesperson for Spar, a Dutch chain, said refrigeration in around five of its stores was hit. 

In Ireland, a spokesperson for Musgrave Group said a cyberincident affected refrigeration systems in 13 of its SuperValu sites. Chilled and frozen products in the affected stores were removed from sale as a precaution. 

Several supermarkets of the ICA and Coop chains in Sweden saw higher temperatures in their freezers. At ICA Kvantum in Sjobo, freezers were raised to 50 degrees Celsius, the store said on its Facebook page, adding that it suspected a hack. 

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“We are aware that a limited number of stores were affected by an incident overnight, which impacted their refrigeration and freezer systems,” an ICA Sverige spokesperson told Bloomberg via e-mail on Monday, adding that the stores are receiving support to manage the situation. The spokesperson did not confirm a cyberattack.

Coop has seven affected stores, a spokesperson said, confirming a hack.

The head of Sweden’s national cybersecurity centre, John Billow, told Reuters it was working on several incidents regarding refrigeration systems in grocery stores around Sweden.

“We have in recent weeks... identified that we have quite a lot of exposed operational technology devices in Sweden that we have been clear about the necessity to update or patch.”

In Finland, some refrigeration equipment in a few smaller K-food grocery stores “experienced temperature anomalies overnight”, said Petri Kayhko, head of corporate security at Kesko Oyj, Finland’s second-biggest grocer.

Kesko began investigating the cause after receiving automated alerts and as staff entered the premises in the morning, he said in an e-mailed response to questions. An IT-related incident is not ruled out, he said.

It is not a widespread phenomenon, but affects only a couple of smaller grocery stores whose equipment is not included within the scope of Kesko’s centralised safeguards, he added.

Supermarkets in Estonia were also impacted, local media reported. One affected chain had temperatures set to 50 deg C, technology supplier Kitman Coldtech told public broadcaster ERR.

“This is very fresh, it happened this morning,” Kitman CEO Jann Mutso told ERR. He declined to name the affected grocery chain.

In October, a cyberattack resulted in days of service outages and empty shelves across Ahold Delhaize stores in the Netherlands. The company has still not said what caused the problem.

In the US, the Pentagon said last week it was examining the failure of food storage freezers in several military facilities. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS