Another cyber attack targeting refrigerators... Following France, Belgium and Sweden are also excited (comprehensive)

“Temperatures in refrigerators and freezers soar”… Remote control with defrost mode

(Brussels = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hyun Yun-kyung = The refrigerator hacking incident that occurred at French supermarkets last month has been repeated in some European countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, and Sweden, the Brussels Times, a Belgian English-language newspaper, reported on the 2nd (local time).

Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize confirmed that an IT problem targeting refrigeration systems occurred in approximately 40 stores across Belgium between the night of the 1st and the early morning of the 2nd, causing temperatures in refrigerators and freezers to soar sharply. Carrefour Belgium also announced that a similar phenomenon occurred in 15 stores.

According to RTL Info, a French-speaking Belgian media outlet, a significant number of store managers received a warning from Del Reyes around 4 a.m. on the 2nd that the temperature of the refrigeration equipment was rising. It was reported that the temperature of refrigerators and freezers in these stores rose up to 15 degrees.

Affected store managers and employees rushed to work to minimize inventory loss, while some stores reportedly mobilized refrigerated trucks to preserve products.

Delrays' parent company, Dutch company Ahold Delrays, also announced on this day that IT problems had occurred in refrigerators and freezers at dozens of supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg.

According to Reuters, the company confirmed that the temperature of the cooling system had risen and said it is currently investigating the circumstances of the accident. The company reported to the Dutch police that a cybersecurity incident occurred last month.

Previously, in France, a cyber attack occurred during the night of the 11th and 12th of last month that raised the temperature of supermarket refrigerators of several companies to 50 degrees, and about 700 stores suffered extensive damage, including discarding large quantities of spoiled food. At the time, the organization or individual claiming to be behind the hacking incident has not yet come forward.

Local newspaper Aftonblade reported that freezer temperatures soared in some stores of Swedish supermarket chains ICA and Coop that day.

The ICA store in Szewo, Sweden, announced on Facebook that the freezer temperature had risen to 50 degrees Celsius, raising the possibility of hacking. ICA has a one-third share of the Swedish grocery market, and Coop has about 17%.

Like the hack that occurred in France last month, hackers reportedly used a method of remotely manipulating refrigeration systems in Belgium and Sweden to switch refrigerators and freezers to defrost mode and increase their internal temperatures.