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More European supermarkets are getting their freezers hacked

By · Via The Verge · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Supermarket chains, including Sweden's Coop and Ica Kvantum alongside Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize, experienced remote tampering that altered temperatures in dozens of retail cooling units. Modern grocers frequently connect their refrigeration units to the internet for automated alerts and remote maintenance, creating potential digital entry points for malicious actors. In one extreme Swedish incident, attackers breached an Ica Kvantum store overnight and drove refrigerator temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). These events mirror a recent attack across hundreds of French stores that caused millions of Euros in lost inventory.

Key points

  • Supermarket chains across at least four European nations have been disrupted by unauthori…: Supermarket chains across at least four European nations have been disrupted by unauthorized access to their refrigeration systems.
  • Commercial cooling systems connected to the internet for remote alerts are exposing food…: Commercial cooling systems connected to the internet for remote alerts are exposing food supply chains to malicious interference.
  • The incidents follow similar suspected digital attacks that recently affected grocery uni…: The incidents follow similar suspected digital attacks that recently affected grocery units in France and cooling equipment at United States military bases.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Grocery stores across Europe have been hit by another wave of suspected cyberattacks, reporting sudden changes in the temperatures of their fridges and freezers. Major supermarket chains across Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Estonia were affected according to local reports shared by Bloomberg and Reuters.

More European supermarkets are getting their freezers hacked

Stores in Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Estonia have had their cooling systems tampered with.

Stores in Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Estonia have had their cooling systems tampered with.

One Ica Kvantum store in Sweden said on its Facebook page that its fridges and freezers had been hacked overnight, with temperatures remotely raised to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). In a statement to Business Insider, a spokesperson at Swedish supermarket chain Coop also confirmed that “unauthorized actors were able to access and tamper with the cooling systems at a small fraction of our stores.” Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize said an “IT incident” was responsible for adjusting the temperature of refrigeration units in dozens of its supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg. The full scale of the incident has yet to…

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