Suspicion of a new cyber attack targeting the cooling systems of supermarkets in Europe has been raised.
An investigation was launched after the temperatures in the refrigerators and freezers of many markets in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden and Estonia suddenly increased.
According to Reuters, Belgium-based retail group Colruyt and Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize announced that there were IT-related problems in the cooling systems of some of their stores on the night between November 1 and November 2.
Swedish grocery chains ICA and Coop also confirmed similar incidents, while some stores reported cyber attacks on their cooling systems.
The incidents took place last month after the cooling systems of hundreds of supermarkets in France were taken over by hackers.
Sarah De Meester, spokeswoman for Delhaize supermarkets within Ahold Delhaize, said on Monday that temperature increases were detected in the refrigerators and freezers of some stores.
The company said it was investigating the cause of the incident, which affected dozens of stores in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Stephan Moelans, Chief Executive of the Belgian company Sabcobel, which operates Delhaize's cooling systems, claimed that the incident was a cyber attack in his statement to the Belga news agency.
Moelans stated that the attackers put the evaporators in the cooling systems into defrost mode.
TEMPERATURE WAS INCREASED TO 50 DEGREES IN SWEDEN
Similar incidents occurred in the ICA and Coop supermarket chains in Sweden.
An ICA store announced on its social media account that the temperature settings of its refrigerators and freezers were increased to 50 degrees at night by hackers.
An announcement was hung at the ICA Baronen store in Stockholm stating that all freezers had become unusable due to a cyber attack.
The sales manager of the store stated that the attack took place around 02:00 at night and the problem was noticed at 05:30 in the morning.
An ICA spokesperson confirmed that a limited number of stores were affected and said the incident was being investigated.
In his statement to the Swedish press, Coop stated that similar problems were experienced in some of its stores.
A SIMILAR EVENT HAPPENED IN ESTONIA
Suspicion of a cyber attack was also raised at a supermarket chain in Estonia.
Cooling technologies company Kitman Coldtech announced that the temperature in the cooling systems of a grocery chain was adjusted to 50 degrees.
The company's CEO, Jann Mutso, told Estonian public broadcaster ERR that the incident occurred on Monday morning.
Mutso did not share the name of the affected grocery chain.
New events in Europe came to the fore after a large-scale cyber attack in France in October.
According to the French police, hackers remotely controlled the cooling systems of hundreds of supermarkets and increased temperatures by up to 50 degrees.
While fires broke out in some stores due to the attacks, many food products became unusable as a result of the breakdown of the cold chain.
The identities of the people or groups who organized the attacks in France have not yet been determined.
No official statement was made as to whether the recent events were organized by the same people.
HOW CAN CYBER ATTACKERS ACCESS REFRIGERATORS?
A significant part of the modern cooling and heating systems used in supermarkets can be monitored and controlled remotely via internet connection.
While this feature allows businesses to centrally manage energy consumption and temperature settings, it can create new security vulnerabilities for cyber attackers.
Attackers who exploit vulnerabilities in remote access systems can change the settings of cooling devices and increase the temperature of the environment where the products are stored.
Similar risks apply to security cameras, alarm systems and other internet-connected industrial devices.
John Billow, President of the Swedish National Cyber Security Center, announced that they are working on multiple incidents affecting the cooling systems of markets in the country.
Billow stated that they have detected many industrial control devices open to the internet throughout Sweden in recent weeks.
Emphasizing that these devices should be updated for security and existing vulnerabilities should be closed, Billow called on businesses to take precautions.
