The EU denounces “extremely worrying repeated cyberattacks” after a new breakdown of refrigerators in supermarkets in several member states

Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg and Sweden were hit by a new hacker attack on Monday, November 2, affecting refrigerators. These incidents caused a rise in temperatures in the refrigeration installations concerned. “The repetition of these cyberattacks is extremely worrying,” responded the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen. “This is a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence – a warning we must take seriously.”

In Belgium, in particular, refrigerators in Carrefour group stores were affected by this cyberattack, its spokesperson Mich Vergauwen announced to franceinfo. Some 15 brands, out of the 700 owned by the group, were affected by this attack which had “very little impact”. As for Intermarché, "around fifteen stores were affected", the brand informed franceinfo, "but the alarms sounded so quickly that everyone acted very quickly". The Colruyt group, for its part, adds that five Spar stores "were affected", in this case "independents who have their own supplier and their own refrigeration systems".

Equipment allocated from Estonia to Sweden, via Luxembourg

Some supermarkets located in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg and Sweden are among the brands affected by this new hacker attack. In Sweden, for example, the Coop chain confirmed that six of its approximately 800 stores had been victims of a cyberattack at dawn on Monday. Swedish chain Ica also said "a limited number" of its stores had experienced refrigeration problems, but the group could not confirm that a cyberattack was the cause. Similar incidents have been reported in several places across the continent.

In Estonia, the devices were older models delivered by Danfoss, similar to those targeted in the attack in France, Jann Mutso, director of Kitman Coldtech, a manufacturer and distributor of connected refrigeration systems, told ERR. “The ‘signature’ is the same, but I can’t say more,” he said.