Cyberattack Hits Supermarket Refrigeration Across Europe, Forcing Food Off Shelves

Supermarket and grocery chains across Europe reported an IT incident overnight that caused temperature changes in fridges and freezers. Dutch chain Ahold Delhaize and Belgian chain Colruyt said cold storage was hit in dozens of stores in Belgium and Luxembourg, while Swedish grocers ICA and Coop reported similar temperature spikes. Ikea said one of its Belgian stores suffered a similar refrigeration problem, blamed it on a cyber attack, and confirmed some food products were removed from shelves.

The head of Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel, which operates Ahold Delhaize's systems, told Belga news agency it was a cyber attack in which the units' evaporators were switched to defrost mode. Colruyt Group said the fridge systems were attacked in five shops. Ahold Delhaize is investigating, and had reported a separate cybersecurity incident to Dutch police last month after detecting suspicious activity in its infrastructure.

The EU's food commissioner, Christophe Hansen, called the incidents a deliberate attempt to undermine consumer confidence in the EU's food supply, though he said there was currently no risk to food security. The events follow an attack in France last month, where police said hackers seized control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets, raising temperatures by up to 50 degrees Celsius and causing fires and food losses. Sweden's national cyber security centre head said it had become clear how many operational technologies are exposed and need protection.