Hackers Target European Supermarkets to Spoil Food in Chiller Cabinets

Supermarket chains across northern Europe suffered widespread food losses on Monday after a suspected cyberattack altered refrigerator temperatures in dozens of grocery stores overnight.

The disruptions affected store cooling systems in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg, forcing managers to discard large quantities of spoiled fresh produce, meat and frozen items.

The incident follows a similar cyberattack last month that compromised cooling controllers in hundreds of French supermarkets, causing millions of euros in commercial losses.

"We spent all night and morning disconnecting the affected installations from the grid," said Stephan Moelans, the chief executive of Sabcobel, a refrigeration system installation company in Belgium.

In Sweden, retail chain Coop confirmed that unauthorized parties tampered with cooling systems in seven of its more than 800 stores overnight into Monday.

"Unauthorized actors were able to access and tamper with the cooling systems at a small fraction of our stores," a spokesperson for Coop said, adding that the situation was contained.

Another Swedish grocery retailer, ICA Sverige, reported that an overnight disruption impacted cooling units across a small fraction of its stores operating outside its central network.

"The incident impacted the stores' refrigeration and freezer systems," said Gustaf Nilsson, a spokesperson for ICA Sverige, noting that the company was supporting affected locations.

Reports differed slightly on the Swedish impact, with The Guardian reporting six Coop stores affected while Business Insider and the BBC reported seven.

Retail group Ahold Delhaize reported an IT incident that affected cooling equipment at about 40 Delhaize supermarkets across Belgium and Luxembourg.

A Delhaize branch in Hoeilaart, Belgium, lost 100,000 euros worth of produce, according to Belgian news outlet Het Laatste Nieuws.

French-owned retailer Carrefour said the incident affected 15 of its Belgian stores, but added that immediate action ensured all locations remained open.

Supermarket cooling systems are routinely connected to the internet for remote maintenance, allowing hackers to override settings and raise temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius.

National cybersecurity agencies in Belgium and Sweden said they were monitoring the situation, while authorities in France continue investigating the prior month's attack.