Cyberattacks disrupt supermarket refrigeration in four European countries

Supermarkets in Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg and Estonia have reported suspected cyberattacks that altered the temperatures of refrigeration units. The incidents matter because disrupted cooling can spoil food and expose security weaknesses in systems that support grocery supply chains.

A Swedish Ica Kvantum store said its fridges and freezers were remotely raised to 50°C overnight, while Coop confirmed unauthorised access at a small number of stores. Ahold Delhaize said an IT incident changed temperatures in dozens of supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg; the full scale remains unclear. The reports follow suspected attacks on hundreds of French supermarket refrigerators last month, with spoilage estimated to have cost millions of euros.