EU Denounces "Extremely Concerning Repeated Cyberattacks" After Fresh Supermarket Refrigerator Outages in Several Member States

A similar attack struck France in mid-October. "This is a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence," reacted the European Commissioner for Agriculture.

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Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, and Sweden were hit by a new hacker attack on Monday, November 2, affecting refrigerators. These incidents caused temperatures to rise in the refrigeration units concerned. "The repetition of these cyberattacks is extremely concerning," reacted 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 stores belonging to the Carrefour group were affected by this cyberattack, its spokesperson Mich Vergauwen told franceinfo. Around 15 stores, out of the 700 owned by the group, were hit by this attack, which had "very little impact." At Intermarché, "about fifteen stores were affected," the retailer told franceinfo, "but the alarms went off so quickly that everyone acted very swiftly." The Colruyt group, for its part, added that five Spar stores "were affected," specifically "independents who have their own supplier and their own refrigeration systems."

Equipment Affected from Estonia to Sweden, via Luxembourg

Several supermarkets located in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, and Sweden were among the chains hit by this new hacker attack. In Sweden, for example, the Coop chain confirmed that six of its roughly 800 stores were victims of a cyberattack at dawn on Monday. Swedish chain Ica also stated that "a limited number" of its stores experienced refrigeration problems, though the group could not confirm that a cyberattack was the cause. Similar incidents were reported in several locations across the continent.

In Estonia, the devices were older models supplied by Danfoss, similar to those targeted during 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 cannot say more," he stated.

"A risk that many companies underestimate": why are supermarket refrigerators and other connected devices so vulnerable to cyberattacks?

These incidents follow a cyberattack that recently occurred in France. Stores belonging to several major French retail chains, such as Système U, Intermarché, and E.Leclerc, were hit on Monday, October 12, targeting their refrigerators and freezers. Hackers had specifically managed to remotely access refrigeration control systems manufactured by Denmark's Danfoss, and subsequently those of Dixell.

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