New hacker attack causes refrigerators to overheat in supermarkets across Europe

A smartphone displaying a security lock icon on a wooden desk with a succulent — Dan Nelson / Unsplash

Supermarket networks in various countries across Europe experienced issues with refrigeration systems on Monday, November 2. These incidents raised new suspicions of hacker attacks targeting internet-connected equipment.

This recent series of incidents comes about a month after a cyberattack affected hundreds of supermarkets in France. At that time, police reported that hackers took control of refrigeration systems and raised temperatures to as high as 50ºC, resulting in fires and food losses.

The hacker attack targeted refrigeration equipment connected to the internet in European countries. In Belgium, the refrigeration systems of five units of the Spar network, operated by Grupo Colruyt, and nearly 15 supermarkets of the Carrefour network were attacked.

A spokesperson for Grupo Colruyt confirmed that the refrigeration systems of the units were compromised. Dozens of stores belonging to Ahold Delhaize, spread across Belgium and Luxembourg, were also affected. A spokesperson, Sarah De Meester, reported that the Delhaize network detected a temperature increase in its refrigeration systems.

The CEO of Sabcobel, Stephan Moelans, stated that there was a cyberattack that triggered the evaporators to operate in defrost mode, causing the equipment to heat up. Sabcobel is a Belgian refrigeration company responsible for the systems used by Delhaize.

In October, Ahold Delhaize reported a cybersecurity incident to Dutch authorities after noticing suspicious activities in its infrastructure. In Sweden, supermarkets from the ICA and Coop networks encountered similar problems on the same day.

Alarms, refrigerators, security cameras, and heating systems have been connected to networks for remote monitoring and control, which has opened avenues for hacker attacks. As of the publication of this article, authorities had not identified who was behind the attacks, and no group had claimed responsibility.