European Supermarkets Grapple with Widespread Cyberattacks on Refrigeration Systems

Mathieu Tilman, a manager at a Delhaize supermarket in Belgium, expressed his deep shock at the malicious nature of the attack, stating, “I don’t even understand how anyone could do this… How can we end up throwing away so much food? I find it truly distressing. In moments like these, you just feel like quitting your job.”

In Ireland, 13 SuperValu stores were impacted by what the chain’s owner, Musgrave Group, described as a cyber-incident. A company spokesman assured that “replenishment of chilled and frozen ranges in the affected stores is well under way.”

A small number of corner shops in the Netherlands also experienced disruptions. This follows a separate incident last month where supermarket giant Albert Heijn had to take several of its services offline due to another cyber-attack.

In Portugal, the Mosqueteiros group reported that incidents at seven Intermarché stores were linked to a cyberattack targeting an external service provider responsible for managing refrigeration systems.

The Swedish chain ICA also reported refrigeration issues at a “limited number” of its stores, though it did not explicitly confirm a cyber-attack. Sweden’s national cyber-security agencies are actively monitoring the situation.

In Finland, irregular temperatures were detected in a few smaller grocery stores belonging to the Kesko group, which stated it is currently investigating the issue.

Meanwhile, in Estonia, public broadcaster ERR reported that hackers targeted at least one supermarket, raising the temperature in the refrigeration units to a staggering 50°C.

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