Hackers Raise Supermarket Freezers to 55°C as Cyberattack Spreads Across Seven EU Countries

Key Points:

• On November 2, hackers disrupted refrigeration systems across at least seven EU countries, including Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Estonia, and the Netherlands, causing food spoilage in over 100 stores and businesses.
• Major retailers such as Coop and ICA in Sweden, Carrefour and Delhaize in Belgium, and SuperValu in Ireland reported temperature manipulations as high as 55°C, attributed to cyberattacks or unauthorized tampering.
• The affected refrigeration systems often used remote-control technology from manufacturers like Danfoss and Copeland, with some systems connected to unsecured networks and using default passwords, facilitating unauthorized access.
• This wave of attacks follows a similar incident in France three weeks earlier, where around 700 supermarkets experienced manipulated refrigeration settings leading to food losses and fires, highlighting vulnerabilities in aging and unsupported equipment.
• Authorities have not yet identified the perpetrators or motives behind these attacks, which come amid broader concerns about cyber threats targeting food supply chains, including state-backed cyber campaigns against Ukraine.