Cyber-Attack Hits Freezers at Supermarkets in Six European Countries

TLDR

• Dozens of supermarkets in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia reported fridge and freezer problems early Monday.
• Freezer temperatures reportedly rose as high as 50C (122F), and local media say millions of euros of food was thrown away.
• Sabcobel’s CEO said the units’ evaporators were switched to defrost mode, the same method seen in France last month.
• No group has claimed responsibility, and authorities have not said who is behind the attacks.
• Cyber agencies in Belgium and Sweden are monitoring the incidents, and no cases have been reported in the UK.

Dozens of supermarkets across six European countries reported a suspected cyber-attack on their refrigerators and freezers early Monday. Shops in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia were affected.

Around 40 Delhaize stores in Belgium and Luxembourg were hit. Delhaize spokesperson Sarah De Meester said the company noticed temperature increases in its cooling systems and is investigating.

How the Attack Worked

Stephan Moelans is the CEO of Sabcobel, a Belgian company that makes some of the affected units and operates Delhaize’s systems. He told the Belga news agency that the evaporators were switched to defrost mode, which made the units warm up.

He said this appears to be the same method used in an attack on hundreds of French supermarkets last month. In that case, police said hackers raised temperatures as high as 50C and caused fires and food losses.

Moelans said his team worked all night and morning to disconnect the affected units from the network. Since the French attack, he said, the company had been working to protect customers’ fridges against the weakness.

He said the units need physical changes, not just software updates. He added that the simplest fix is to manage the fridges over a secure internet connection, which most customers switched to after France.

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Freezer temperatures in several shops reportedly rose as high as 50C (122F). A Delhaize branch in Hoeilaart told Het Laatste Nieuws it lost €100,000 (£83,500) worth of produce. The manager said that figure did not include losses from closing the shop.

Carrefour Belgium said about 15 of its 700 stores in Belgium were affected. Spokesman Mich Vergauwen said, “It’s a cyberattack, there is no other reason.” The company said it took steps to keep all shops open.

Colruyt Group, which runs Spar stores in Belgium under a franchise system, said five shops had their fridge systems attacked. An Ikea Belgium spokeswoman said its store in Mons was hit, and it was the only Ikea store affected because it uses a different service provider.

Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia

In Sweden, several ICA and Coop stores were hit. ICA said a small number of stores operating outside its central network were affected and that it is supporting them.

An ICA store in Sjöbo wrote on social media that its fridges and freezers were hacked overnight and set to 50 degrees. The store was closed earlier and has now reopened.

At an ICA Baronen store in Stockholm, the sales manager said the attack happened at 2am and was noticed at 5:30am. Coop said six or seven of its stores were affected, and it told the BBC the situation is contained and under control.

John Billow, head of Sweden’s national cybersecurity centre, told Reuters the agency is working on several incidents. He said Sweden has quite a lot of exposed operational technology devices that need to be updated or patched.

In Ireland, 13 SuperValu stores were affected, according to The Irish Times. Musgrave Group, the chain’s owner, said the impact was limited to a specific model of refrigerator.

Danfoss told Dutch broadcaster NOS that cooling systems at at least 17 companies in the Netherlands were attacked overnight. They included butcher shops and small neighbourhood stores.

In Estonia, technology supplier Kitman Coldtech told public broadcaster ERR that a Selver supermarket and other companies were affected, with temperatures set to 50C. Belgium’s and Sweden’s national cyber agencies said they are monitoring the incident, and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said it is working with international partners. No incidents have been reported in the UK.

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