More European supermarkets are getting their freezers hacked

Supermarket chains in at least four European countries are investigating tampering with the networked cooling systems in their stores, the latest in a series of suspected cyberattacks on retail refrigeration.

An Ica Kvantum location in Sweden said on its Facebook page that its refrigerators and freezers were accessed overnight and that temperatures were remotely driven up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). Swedish chain Coop told Business Insider that unauthorized parties had reached and altered cooling systems at a small portion of its stores, according to a company spokesperson. Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize attributed temperature changes in refrigeration units at dozens of its supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg to an IT incident. Stores in Estonia have also had cooling systems tampered with, and the incident's full scope has not been established.

The affected equipment is part of a broad class of modern supermarket fridges and freezers that connect to the internet to enable remote maintenance and alerts when systems fail. Security weaknesses in that connectivity are drawing attention because of how they can disrupt food supply chains. The incidents reported so far span Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg and Estonia.

The European cases come after an apparent cyberattack last month that hit hundreds of French supermarket refrigerators, with food spoilage estimated at millions of euros. A string of freezer malfunctions at US military bases has also been suspected of resulting from a cyberattack, tying the refrigeration concerns to American installations.

Details of how the intruders reached the cooling systems have not been disclosed by the companies involved. Coop characterized the affected share of its estate as small, while Ahold Delhaize described dozens of sites in two countries. Ica Kvantum's account covers a single store.

The source article did not identify the attackers, the software or hardware involved, or any regulatory response. The scale of the campaign remains unconfirmed.

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