Across the grocery shelves of a continent, a quiet and unsettling kind of crime has taken hold: unseen hands reached into the cold rooms that keep food safe and turned the temperatures up. Over a single Monday, refrigeration systems in at least eleven European countries drifted from their settings, and tonnes of food were lost before the damage was understood. No one has stepped forward to claim it, and its purpose remains a blank, which is itself a reminder of how modern life rests on machines we rarely think about until they fail. The response now taking shape is less about one thief than ab
EU Calls Supermarket Refrigeration Hacks 'Not Isolated' as Attacks Span at Least 11 Countries
"We had to throw away everything. The shelves are empty."
Mark
Why does this story matter beyond spoiled food?
Mimi
Because the same kind of attack happened in October in France, and now it has returned across at least 11 countries. The EU's spokesperson called it not isolated.
Mark
What actually did the hackers do?
Mimi
They raised the temperatures of refrigeration systems at supermarkets, including in Germany, Romania and the UK. Tonnes of food were spoiled.
Luke
Do we know who is behind it?
Mimi
No. Nobody has claimed it and the motive is unknown.
Luke
Then how much weight does Romania's view carry? Dan Cimpean said it looks semi-amateurish and not a state actor.
Mimi
It's one official's assessment, and he's the head of Romania's cyber directorate. The EU's spokesperson refused to name culprits, so it isn't settled.
Mark
Was the damage uniform?
Mimi
No. Belgium had dozens of stores down and Italy about 20. In Sicily, four of Coop's 300 stores were hit. In the UK the impact was described as minimal.
Luke
And the fixes? Are they proven?
Mimi
Coop Sweden says moving to 5G helps with a large share of such problems, but that's the company's claim. Experts say disconnecting from the internet isolates systems without fixing the root cause.
Mark
So what's the practical lesson?
Mimi
Know whether your refrigeration controllers are online, keep them updated, and if you can't tell, take them off the public internet.
Der Puls
- Refrigeration systems in supermarkets across at least eleven European countries were pushed off their settings in a single coordinated wave, spoiling food by the tonne.
- Store shelves in Italy, Belgium and Sweden went bare overnight, and shop owners were left counting losses in the thousands of euros.
- Brussels is racing to stitch together a joint response, while national agencies in Romania, Italy and the UK work through their own investigations and assessments.
- Security experts are urging retailers to unplug their refrigeration controllers from the open internet, a fast fix that isolates the systems while the deeper cause is still unresolved.
- No group has claimed the attacks and the motive is unknown, leaving officials divided on how alarmed to be and how quickly guidance will reach the stores.
Across the grocery shelves of a continent, a quiet and unsettling kind of crime has taken hold: unseen hands reached into the cold rooms that keep food safe and turned the temperatures up. Over a single Monday, refrigeration systems in at least eleven European countries drifted from their settings, and tonnes of food were lost before the damage was understood. No one has stepped forward to claim it, and its purpose remains a blank, which is itself a reminder of how modern life rests on machines we rarely think about until they fail. The response now taking shape is less about one thief than about the shared fragility of connected things, and whether a continent can learn to protect its everyday comforts before the next attempt.
Overnight on Monday, the freezers and fridges in stores across Europe began to climb toward dangerous temperatures. In Sweden, seven Coop shops were knocked off course, and the chain later explained that the equipment had been tied to older 4G networks. By Tuesday, the disruption had reached at least eleven countries, from Belgium and Italy to Romania, Germany and the United Kingdom. Food was spoiled in quantities that stretched across the continent, and in some places the shelves were left empty.
In Italy, a Sicilian grocery group lost four of its 300 stores' worth of stock and was left to throw everything away. Officials in Rome stressed that the impact was limited and that there was no cause for alarm, though the country remained watchful. In Belgium, dozens of stores across several chains reported failures, and federal prosecutors opened an investigation. In the UK, the cyber agency said the damage was small, though the attackers had exploited weak technology in a few cases.
Brussels has said the events are not isolated and that agencies are working with national authorities on a joint answer. Romania's cybersecurity chief, however, believed the attack was rough and unsophisticated, and he saw no sign of a state hand behind it. No one has taken responsibility, and the reasons remain unclear. Coop Sweden has sped up its move to newer networks, and Danfoss, whose controls were again targeted, has advised that its systems should not be reachable from the internet. Experts say unplugging the controllers from public networks offers immediate protection, even though the underlying weakness has yet to be fixed. The coming days will show whether the EU's guidance urges retailers to take that step.
In Sweden, the freezers and refrigerators in seven Coop stores were knocked off course overnight. The cause, the chain said on Tuesday, was that the equipment was linked to old 4G networks. The stores have since returned to normal operations. It was one small piece of a hacking spree that, by Tuesday, had reached at least 11 European countries.
Officials said hackers raised the temperatures of refrigeration systems at supermarkets in Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom during Monday's attacks. The attacks have spoiled tonnes of food across the continent. On Monday, problems had already been reported in at least nine EU countries: Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. On Tuesday, officials and company representatives said four supermarkets in Germany and six in Romania were affected. The UK, which is outside the EU, was also hit.
Thomas Regnier, a spokesperson for the European Union, said the bloc's agencies were talking with national authorities to build a joint response. "These are not isolated incidents," he said, adding that Europe has to be collectively resilient and prepared for such incidents. He declined to name any potential culprits. No one has claimed responsibility, and the motive is unknown.
Romania's top cybersecurity official offered a more modest reading. Dan Cimpean, director of the National Cyber Security Directorate, told AFP the attack "seems semi-amateurish" and said officials did not suspect, under any circumstances, a state actor. He added that no other infrastructure was compromised.
Belgium was among the hardest hit on Monday, with dozens of stores across several grocery chains reporting refrigeration failures. Federal prosecutors there have opened an investigation. In Italy, about 20 supermarkets were affected. Giuseppe Spadaro, director of a group running Coop supermarkets in Sicily, said four of its 300 stores were hit, with damage in the thousands of euros. "We had to throw away everything. The shelves are empty," he told Corriere della Sera. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said the impact was "limited" after the government met intelligence chiefs and the National Cybersecurity Agency, adding that there was no cause for alarm, though institutions remained on high alert.
In the UK, hackers tried to target small meat-processing firms, but Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, said the impact was minimal. He told the BBC the issue touched "the whole food supply chain" and that in a couple of instances vulnerable technology had been exploited.
Monday's wave mirrored an October cyberattack that swept hundreds of supermarkets across France and also affected stores in several other European countries. Coop Sweden spokesperson Carlos Cancinos said the chain had sped up an upgrade begun after October, moving its connected refrigeration equipment onto 5G networks and modern modems, which he said solves a large share of problems of this kind.
Danfoss, the Danish maker of refrigeration controls whose systems were again among those targeted, said it had been in close contact with customers for the past three weeks and recommended that the systems not be directly reachable from the internet. Frank Groenewegen, a Deloitte cybersecurity expert in The Hague, told Reuters that retailers should check whether their controllers are online and up to date, and if they do not know, take them off the public internet immediately. Disconnecting does not fix the root cause, he said, but it isolates the systems so an attacker cannot do this again.
What to watch now is the EU's joint response, and whether guidance pressing retailers to pull refrigeration controllers off the public internet follows.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
These are not isolated incidents, and of course, we have to be collectively resilient and prepared for such cyber incidents.— Thomas Regnier, EU spokesperson
It seems semi-amateurish. We do not suspect, under any circumstances, that it is a state actor.— Dan Cimpean, director, Romania's National Cyber Security Directorate
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