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Suspected cyber-attack disrupts supermarket refrigeration in three countries
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
The suspected cyber-attack has now been reported at supermarkets in three countries, including 13 SuperValu shops in Ireland. The refrigeration disruption has led to food being discarded, while the cause and those responsible remain unknown.
In Belgium, around 40 Delhaize shops and 15 Carrefour stores were affected. In Sweden, several ICA shops and seven of Coop’s 800 stores reported problems; one ICA branch said its freezers had been set to 50°C, and it has since reopened. The incident follows a similar attack on hundreds of French supermarkets last month.
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In short
- Thirteen SuperValu shops in Ireland were also affected.
- Belgian and Swedish stores reported refrigeration disruption.
- The attacker’s identity remains unknown.
How this story developed
- 2 hours ago Further details identified 13 affected SuperValu shops in Ireland and said an ICA branch in Sjöbo had its freezer temperature changed to 50°C before reopening; the reported impact elsewhere was unchanged.
- 2 hours ago Refrigeration failures linked to a suspected cyber-attack affected supermarkets in Belgium, Sweden and Ireland, with some food discarded, while the cause and those responsible remained unknown.
Full account
A suspected cyber-attack disrupted refrigeration at supermarkets in several European countries, with stores reporting overnight rises in the temperature of fridges and freezers. The clearest reports came from Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden. The incident drew comparisons with an attack in France last month, when hackers reportedly interfered with cooling systems at hundreds of supermarkets and large quantities of food were lost.
Ahold Delhaize said an IT incident affected refrigeration in dozens of its Belgian and Luxembourg supermarkets and that the temperature increases were under investigation. In Sweden, ICA reported a limited number of affected stores, while Coop said several branches had been hit. Some shops had to discard spoiled stock; one ICA store in southern Sweden said its refrigeration had been set to 50C and temporarily closed before reopening.
Sabcobel, a Belgian refrigeration systems company, said the affected units had been switched into defrost mode, causing them to warm. Its chief executive, Stephan Moelans, said technicians had worked overnight to disconnect affected installations. He said the company had been addressing a vulnerability identified after the French incident, but that protecting some units required physical changes. The precise cause and those responsible for the latest disruption had not been established in the reports.
The reported impact varied by retailer. Delhaize stores were among those affected, and a branch in Hoeilaart estimated its produce losses at €100,000, excluding potential losses from closing. Carrefour said 15 Belgian stores were affected and that steps had been taken to keep all its shops open; five Spar outlets were also reported to have had refrigeration systems targeted. Cyber-security agencies in Belgium and Sweden said they were monitoring the situation. The earlier French incident showed how remotely connected cooling equipment can expose food retailers to disruption, but the reports did not establish that the same actors were responsible in this case.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The first report describes effects across six countries, adding Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia to Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden. The second focuses on the three countries whose supermarket chains publicly described overnight temperature rises.
The reported Swedish Coop tally differs: the first report says seven stores were affected, while the second cites six. The reports also describe ICA’s affected stores in similar but not identical terms, without giving a count.
The reports attribute varying detail to the Belgian impact. The first gives Carrefour’s figure of 15 stores and says five Spar shops were affected; the second lists five Spar outlets and adds Shop & Go and Proxy Delhaize locations, without giving the same Carrefour figure.
The first report presents Sabcobel’s assessment that this was a cyber-attack and links the mechanism to the French incident. The second describes the event more cautiously as an IT incident under investigation, while supplying more detail on the earlier French attack and its scale.
Left-leaning outlets 1
Only here: freezers, across, europe, second
Centre outlets 1
Only here: disrupts, refrigeration, three, countries
Every side used: supermarket, suspected, cyber, attack
Headline columns compared word for word; nothing in them is AI-written.
Explained simply
Supermarket refrigeration keeps chilled and frozen food at safe temperatures in shops and storage areas. If those systems stop working or are changed, stores may have to close temporarily and throw food away.
The retailers named in the reports include Delhaize and Carrefour in Belgium, ICA and Coop in Sweden, and SuperValu in Ireland. They operate separate supermarket chains, and the reported problems affected only some of their stores.
Cyber-attacks can target computer systems that control equipment as well as those used for payments or records. The cause and the people responsible have not been established, so it is not yet clear whether the incidents in the three countries are connected to each other or to the earlier French case.
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Originally published by BBC World as “Supermarket freezers in Belgium and Sweden hit by suspected cyber-attack”.