Cyberattacks on Refrigeration Hit German Supermarkets

In Lilienthal near Bremen, service counters, cold rooms and freezers failed overnight into 2 November and heated up to 30 degrees. Owner Daniel Breiding said goods worth more than 360,000 euros had to be discarded. A supermarket run by Arbeiterwohlfahrt in Wetter-Volmarstein was also hit; operators said the real target was the company that maintains the cooling systems remotely.

In recent days, similar attacks were reported in Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Estonia, Finland and the Netherlands. A Belgian refrigeration service provider said the systems were remotely switched into defrost mode. In mid-October, a large attack on a technology provider had already affected stores of several major French grocery chains, and the Paris prosecutor's cybercrime unit took over that investigation.

Political response

Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger called for stronger protection of digital building and operational technology, noting that Germany's Federal Office for Information Security had issued such calls before the latest attacks. All companies and public administrations, he said, need to take more precautions.

The European Commission held two crisis meetings, including the EU cybersecurity agency Enisa, Europol and Commission experts, and activated the European cyber crisis network. Investigations remain with national authorities. Who is behind the attacks is still unclear, but a Commission spokesperson said the incidents show that Europe must prepare jointly for such attacks.