A cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration systems disrupted stores across seven European countries on Monday, November 2, forcing retailers to discard spoiled food after temperatures in some refrigerators and freezers rose to 50 degrees Celsius, according to the BBC. Retailers in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Estonia and the Netherlands reported equipment failures. About 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, alongside 15 Carrefour stores and five Spar franchise shops in Belgium, 13 SuperValu stores in Ireland, and Coop and ICA stores in Sweden, according to the BBC and AFP. AFP reported on Tuesday that the attacks have since reached at least nine countries, including Italy and Portugal. Belgian refrigeration equipment company Sabcobel confirmed that attackers had switched refrigerator evaporators into defrost mode, causing temperatures to rise. Technicians worked through the night to disconnect affected units from the network. One Delhaize store near Brussels lost at least 100,000 euros of frozen food and stayed closed until about noon, its manager told Belgian media. The incident follows a similar attack in France in October that affected up to 700 supermarkets, with food losses estimated in the tens of millions of euros. European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen described the repeated incidents as "a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumers' confidence in it." Belgium's federal prosecutor has opened an investigation, according to Euronews, and cybersecurity agencies in Belgium, Sweden and the United Kingdom are assessing the incidents. No group has claimed responsibility and no attacker has been officially named.
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