Cyber-attack hits shop freezers in seven European countries

Dozens of supermarkets across seven European countries have been hit by a cyber-attack affecting their refrigerators and freezers, the BBC reports. Around 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, while a smaller number of shops were hit in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.

Stephan Moelans, CEO of Sabcobel, which operates Delhaize’s systems, told the Belga news agency the company had been “working all night and morning to disconnect the affected units from the network”. Sabcobel said the units’ evaporators were switched to defrost mode, causing them to warm up, the same method believed used in last month’s attack on French supermarkets. Freezer temperatures in several shops reportedly rose as high as 50C (122F).

In Sweden, a spokesperson for ICA said the incident affected a “small number of ICA stores operating outside ICA’s central network”. Belgium and Sweden’s national cyber-security agencies said they were monitoring the incident. It is unclear who is behind the latest apparent attack.