Fridge cyberattack hits supermarkets across Europe on 2 November

A wave of attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems struck several European countries on Monday 2 November, with incidents reported in Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden. Retailers were forced to throw away fresh and frozen products after temperatures in their cooling units rose suddenly.

The pattern recalls the attack in France on the night of 11 to 12 October, when hackers targeted the refrigeration systems of hundreds of supermarkets. This time the scale is continental.

Belgium: the best-documented case

Belgium is so far the country where the attack is best documented. Installations began to malfunction around midnight between Sunday and Monday. Stephan Moelans, head of refrigeration firm Sabcobel, said the attackers remotely triggered the defrost cycle of the evaporators, which normally melts accumulated frost. It is the same technique seen in France.

According to Belgian media counts, around forty Delhaize stores were affected, along with about fifteen Carrefour and a similar number of Intermarché outlets, and five Spar shops. An Ikea store in Mons, the butchers De Laet and Van Haver, and chocolate maker Galler are also reportedly among the victims. Ahold Delhaize says several dozen supermarkets were disrupted, Luxembourg included.

Other countries affected

Swedish retailer ICA acknowledged that a limited part of its network was hit, and Coop reported similar difficulties. In Estonia, chain Selver confirmed one store was targeted; its supplier Kitman Coldtech said attackers set a freezer to 50 °C, but a quick response limited the rise to two or three degrees and avoided any loss. In Ireland, Musgrave said the incident was limited to a specific fridge model in its SuperValu stores, and 13 shops pulled fresh and frozen goods without closing. Disruption is also mentioned in the Netherlands, with no detail so far.

The tally remains partial and no overall financial estimate has been given. Delhaize still speaks only of an "IT incident" and is investigating, while Carrefour says it is trying to understand what happened. Investigations continue.