On a Monday in early November, a quiet kind of failure spread across supermarkets in five European countries: cooling systems that exist to keep food safe were, apparently through remote interference, turned against the very thing they protect. It echoes a similar episode in France three weeks earlier, and it reminds us how much of ordinary life now rests on machines that can be reached from afar. Whether this is one hand or several, and how the continent chooses to guard the devices it has come to depend on, remains an open question.
Freezer failures hit supermarkets in five European countries in second suspected cyberattack
Equipment built to keep food cold was set to do the opposite
Mark
Five countries in one morning. Why does a freezer failure rate as a security story?
Mimi
Because the equipment was reportedly controlled remotely. At the Sjobo ICA Kvantum store, temperatures were dialed up to 50 degrees Celsius. That's deliberate manipulation, not a breakdown.
Luke
Careful, though. Coop's spokesman said he'd received no information that it was a cyberattack. Carrefour's Belgian spokesman said it plainly was. Those two statements sit side by side.
Mark
So is the cyberattack confirmed?
Luke
Not by an investigation. Belgium has opened a criminal inquiry and Sweden's cybersecurity center is investigating. The Commissioner called it deliberate, but a final attribution hasn't been reported.
Mimi
The scale looks modest in places. Six of roughly 800 Coop stores in Sweden, 13 supermarkets in Ireland per RTE. But it spans several chains and countries.
Mark
Is food supply actually threatened?
Mimi
Commissioner Hansen said food security is not currently at risk, but that the waste and the business impact are real.
Luke
And whether this is the same actor as France is simply unknown. The resemblance is noted, not established.
Mark
What's the underlying weakness?
Mimi
John Billow described quite a lot of exposed operational technology in Sweden that needs patching. Fridges, heating, cameras, alarms, all increasingly remote-controlled.
Luke
Worth noting that's a general warning about exposure, not a finding on how these specific stores were breached.
Le Pouls
- A store in Sweden had its refrigeration remotely pushed to 50 degrees Celsius, turning a system built to preserve food into a source of spoilage.
- Freezers failed overnight across Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden, leaving shelves emptied and stock thrown away.
- Belgian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation while Sweden's cybersecurity center hunts for exposed devices that need patching.
- Brussels has labeled the attacks a deliberate attempt to disrupt Europe's food supply, though officials insist food security itself is not at risk.
- Investigators are now trying to determine whether the French incident and this wave share a single actor, and the outcome will shape any EU response.
On a Monday in early November, a quiet kind of failure spread across supermarkets in five European countries: cooling systems that exist to keep food safe were, apparently through remote interference, turned against the very thing they protect. It echoes a similar episode in France three weeks earlier, and it reminds us how much of ordinary life now rests on machines that can be reached from afar. Whether this is one hand or several, and how the continent chooses to guard the devices it has come to depend on, remains an open question.
At an ICA Kvantum supermarket in Sjobo, in southern Sweden, the temperature in the refrigeration systems was remotely raised to 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 Fahrenheit. That single detail, reported on Monday, captures what the people behind the apparent attack were able to do: take equipment designed to keep food cold and make it work in reverse.
The same day, supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden reported anomalies in their freezer systems. The pattern resembled an incident in France on October 12, when unidentified actors were accused of setting refrigeration to defrost. As before, stores were forced to discard spoiled fresh and frozen food.
The scale varies by country and the picture is still incomplete. In Sweden, Coop said six of its roughly 800 stores were affected, though it had no information pointing to a cyberattack. In Ireland, RTE reported 13 affected supermarkets. In Belgium, Carrefour's spokesman was blunt: "It's a cyberattack... There's no other reason." Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation.
Brussels has responded. Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen called the attacks a deliberate attempt to disrupt Europe's food supplies, adding that food security is not currently at risk, though the waste and damage to businesses are real. Sweden's National Cybersecurity Center, meanwhile, has found many exposed operational technology devices and urged operators to patch them. Refrigerators, alarms and cameras, once purely mechanical, now answer to networks, and each connection is another possible door.
What remains is the question of whether investigators can link the French incident and this wave to a single actor, and whether the European Union will act to secure connected refrigeration.
At the ICA Kvantum supermarket in Sjobo, in southern Sweden, the temperature in the refrigeration systems was remotely turned up to 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 Fahrenheit. That detail, from one store on Monday, shows what the people behind the apparent attack were able to do: take equipment built to keep food cold and set it to do the opposite.
Supermarkets in five countries, Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden, reported anomalies in their freezer systems on Monday. The pattern resembles an incident in France three weeks earlier, on October 12, when unidentified malign actors were accused of hijacking refrigeration systems and setting them to defrost, spoiling fresh and frozen food. As on that date, Monday's failures led stores to throw out spoiled products.
The scale differs by country, and the picture is still incomplete. In Sweden, the chains ICA and Coop said a limited number of shops were affected. ICA spokeswoman Helena Johansson said the company was looking into what had happened and how far it reached. Coop spokesman Carlos Cancino told AFP that fridges and freezers had either stopped working entirely or been partially impaired. He put the number at six of roughly 800 Coop stores in Sweden. He also said he had received no information that it was a cyberattack.
In Belgium and Luxembourg, the Dutch group Ahold Delhaize said an overnight "IT incident" had hit freezers in several of its stores. In Ireland, the public broadcaster RTE reported that 13 supermarkets were affected. Carrefour, Intermarche and Spar were also targeted. Carrefour's Belgium spokesman, Mich Vergauwen, was blunt: "It's a cyberattack… There's no other reason." Belgium's prosecutor's office has opened a criminal investigation, according to a spokesperson quoted by Reuters.
The response reached Brussels. European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen called the attacks a deliberate attempt to disrupt Europe's food supplies. He said food security is not currently at risk, but that the food waste and the impact on businesses are real. A Commission spokesperson added that the incidents show cyberattacks can disrupt services, affect businesses and directly touch citizens' daily lives.
Sweden's National Cybersecurity Center is investigating. Its head, John Billow, told Reuters that in recent weeks the agency had found quite a lot of exposed operational technology devices in Sweden, and that it had been clear about the need to update or patch them. The category is broad: refrigerators and heating systems, security cameras, alarm networks, and a growing range of devices that were once largely mechanical but are now often monitored and controlled remotely. Each connected device gives cybercriminals another chance to exploit a security weakness.
What remains to be seen is whether investigators tie the French incident and Monday's multi-country failures to a single actor, and whether the European Union moves to address the security of connected refrigeration systems.
Citations marquantes
Food security is not currently at risk, the food waste and impact on businesses are real.— Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food
It's a cyberattack… There's no other reason.— Mich Vergauwen, Carrefour Belgium spokesman
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