Europe

15 hours agoNews Editor

Cyberattack hits supermarket fridges across Europe for a second time this year

Supermarket refrigeration systems across several European countries were hacked overnight and remotely set to defrost, in what Protos described as the second such incident this year. BNO News reported that stores in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, Estonia, and the Netherlands were affected, with some units pushed to temperatures as high as 70°C, spoiling chilled food and disrupting supply. Swedish grocery giant ICA said several of its stores were hit, while a post cited by Protos said refrigerators and freezers had been remotely set to 50°C. The report said the attackers did not appear to be seeking a crypto ransom or trying to steal funds. Instead, the operation appeared aimed at causing disruption and damaging physical infrastructure. Similar incidents were reported in France last month, where Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard said losses could reach tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day. Cybersecurity expert Gérôme Billois of Wavestone told The Guardian that likely perpetrators could include youngsters, activists, or state-backed actors, and said Iran and Russia are the two international actors currently known for this type of operation.

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France

21 days agoNews Editor

Remote hack heats French supermarket refrigeration units to 50C, ruining food stock at hundreds of stores

A cyberattack hit refrigeration systems at major supermarket chains across France between late Oct. 11 and early Oct. 12, forcing some units to heat up instead of cool and leaving fresh and frozen food unusable at hundreds of locations. According to BFM TV, attackers took control of store-wide refrigeration controllers and altered the defrost function, which normally runs for about two hours a day, into a continuous cycle set to 50C. The Paris prosecutor's office described the incident as a large-scale cyberattack affecting connected refrigeration equipment used by major food retailers nationwide. Reported damage included spoiled food and fires. Retail groups including Intermarché, Netto, Coopérative U, Carrefour and Monoprix were affected, while trade outlet Cooling Post estimated that roughly 500 stores were hit in total. A Les Mousquetaires executive told BFM TV the event could cause losses of tens of millions of euros in a single day across France. Danish manufacturer Danfoss said the incident involved a limited number of refrigeration management systems, many of them older products that no longer receive security updates, while some current-generation units had not updated firmware. French authorities have opened an investigation, and the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI is also checking with European counterparts over possible impact outside France.

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