On Monday night there were reports of problems with freezers and refrigerators from several countries: in addition to Belgium, also from Sweden, Luxembourg and Estonia. Apparently dozens of stores were affected across countries, from chains such as Delhaize, Spar and Carrefour.
According to the Sabcobel company, the systems were put into defrost mode remotely. "We started mobilizing technicians from one o'clock tonight to bring the situation under control," said CEO Stephan Moelans to the Belga news agency. Sabcobel is a specialist provider for the construction and maintenance of cooling systems.
Thawed food was thrown away
There are no reports of successful attacks on German grocers.
The ICA Kvantum branch in Sjöbo in southern Sweden wrote on its Facebook page that its refrigerators and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius. In her post you can see a meat and cheese counter as well as freezers that contain, among other things, pizzas. The store later announced that it had had to dispose of the goods affected by the problem.
In Belgium and Luxembourg, the trading groups Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt, among others, experienced disruptions.
Luc De Laet, the founder and owner of the Belgian butcher chain De Laet & Van Haver, said he was woken up at 3:30 a.m. by an employee who told him there was a problem. He rushed to his shop in Hove, Belgium, and discovered that the temperature in the refrigerators had risen to up to 18 degrees Celsius. As a result, meat products worth around 15,000 euros became inedible, said De Laet. He spoke of a “very frightening” incident.
Attacks in France were not enough of a warning
The attacks were preceded by similar cyber attacks in France in mid-October. Around 150 shops there were affected. At that time, deep freezers from the Danish technology company Danfoss were attacked. This also confirmed that its products were part of the wave of attacks.
The first attack was based on long-known security holes that allowed attackers to gain full control over the control of the cooling systems via the Internet. Danfoss had already released updates for newer devices in August. The Danish company also recommended that all customers disconnect older devices that could no longer receive updates due to their age.
After the first incidents, several European security authorities appealed to retailers to check their own systems and secure them against attacks, including the German Federal Office for Information Security. Why this did not happen in individual cases must now be investigated.
That's what the EU Commission says
The EU Commission also commented on the renewed series of attacks on Monday. "These incidents show that cyberattacks can disrupt services, affect businesses and have a direct impact on citizens' everyday lives," said a Commission spokesman, emphasizing the importance of strengthening cybersecurity across the Union.
Meanwhile, Christophe Hansen, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, suspects that the attacks are "a targeted attempt to disrupt the EU's food supply" and undermine consumer trust in this system. At the same time, Hansen emphasized that food safety is not currently at risk.
It is unclear who is behind the attacks. So far, no hacker group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
This is what an IT expert says
Tom Hegel, a researcher at IT security firm SentinelOne, told Reuters that such attacks are typically extortion attempts, politically motivated actions or government-level operations. However, the lack of financial demands points towards sabotage.
