More European grocery stores hit by apparent fridge-freezer hacks

Key points

• Grocery chains in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden reported fridge and freezer temperature spikes on Monday.
• Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel blamed a cyberattack after units were switched into defrost mode.
• The incidents follow a French cyberattack in October that hit hundreds of stores' refrigeration systems.

Grocery store chains in at least three European countries reported unexpected temperature spikes in refrigerators and freezers on Monday, spoiling food. It was the second time in less than a month that similar incidents raised concerns about cyberattacks on connected infrastructure.

Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize and Belgium's Colruyt said an overnight IT incident sent temperatures soaring in fridges and freezers at dozens of stores in Belgium and Luxembourg. Swedish chains ICA and Coop reported similar spikes, and one outlet explicitly blamed a cyberattack, according to Reuters.

Refrigeration firm blames cyberattack

Sarah De Meester, a Delhaize spokesperson, told Reuters the chain noticed temperature increases in its cooling systems on Monday. Stephan Moelans, CEO of Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel, which operates the systems used by Delhaize and other chains, told Belgium's Belga news agency that a cyberattack was to blame after evaporators were switched into defrost mode.

Moelans said technicians were mobilized at 1 a.m. and worked through the night and morning to disconnect affected units from the network. He said many units would need physical modifications, which "requires investment."

We began mobilizing technicians at 1 a.m. to get the situation under control

— Stephan Moelans

Swedish stores discard food

ICA and Coop both told AFP they had no immediate information about their systems being hit by a cyberattack. ICA said "a limited number" of stores were affected without giving a figure, and one store in Sjobo in southern Sweden posted on Facebook that its fridges and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius, about 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

Coop said six of its around 800 Swedish stores had fridge and freezer problems and had to throw out food. Spokesman Carlos Cancino told AFP the units "either stopped working entirely or have been partially impaired," adding he had received no information that it was a cyberattack.

Earlier French incident

The incidents come less than three weeks after French chains E. Leclerc, Intermarché and Cooperative U told AFP they were hit by a cyberattack that sent refrigerator temperatures as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit in hundreds of outlets. Refrigeration control systems from Danish manufacturer Danfoss were targeted in that case.

No group has claimed responsibility for any hack targeting European grocery retailers to date. Paris prosecutors confirmed a cyberattack and said it also hit other major chains and sparked fires as some equipment overheated.