The incidents follow a similar attack in France last month, when hackers took control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets
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Reuters
Britain’s cyber security chiefs have issued an alert to retailers after dozens of supermarket freezers across Europe were hit by a suspected cyber attack.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, said it was working with retailers to guard against the threat following the attacks in neighbouring countries.
Stores in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland and Estonia reported disruption after refrigeration systems were reportedly switched off or forced into defrost mode overnight.
Temperatures in some fridges and freezers rose as high as 50C.
Around 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, while several ICA and Coop shops in Sweden also reported problems.
Thirteen SuperValu stores in Ireland were also impacted.
Local media reports say millions of euros worth of food may have been destroyed.
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A Delhaize spokesperson said the chain identified temperature increases in its cooling systems on Monday and was investigating.
The incidents follow a similar attack in France last month, when hackers took control of cooling units at up to 700 supermarkets in a large-scale attack, leading to major losses of chilled and frozen food and highlighting the vulnerability of internet-connected systems.
The attackers reportedly overrode settings on thousands of freezers, fridges and chilled cabinets, raising temperatures from as low as -27C to more than 50C.
Stores were forced to throw away large quantities of fresh meat, dairy and frozen goods, with losses ranging from tens of thousands of euros to more than €130,000 (£109,000) per store.
Two supermarkets in Alsace reported combined losses of €270,000.
On Monday, Stephan Moelans, chief executive of Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel, told Belga the units had been targeted in a cyber-attack which put evaporators into defrost mode.
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Reuters
Five Spar stores in Belgium were also affected, according to Colruyt Group.
In Sweden, one ICA store said its refrigeration and freezer temperatures had been “hacked” overnight and set to 50C.
Another store in Stockholm displayed a notice saying all of its freezers had failed because of a cyber-attack.
Coop told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that six of its shops had experienced similar issues.
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Reuters
Sweden’s national cybersecurity centre said it was investigating several incidents involving grocery-store refrigeration systems.
Its head, John Billow, warned that many operational technology devices remain exposed and need patching or updating.
It is not clear who is behind the latest attacks, and no group has claimed responsibility.
