Cyberattacks on refrigeration systems hit food stores across several European countries
On Monday, hackers raised temperatures in the refrigeration systems of supermarkets in Estonia, Sweden and Belgium. In Estonia, damage was avoided because the incident was dealt with within ten minutes.
Cyberattacks hit the refrigeration and cooling equipment of food stores in several European countries on Monday, 2 November. Incidents were reported in Estonia, Sweden and Belgium. The attackers deliberately raised temperatures in equipment used to store food, which can threaten food safety and cause losses for retailers.
Estonia
At a large Estonian grocery chain, criminals gained access to a computer used to remotely control a store's refrigeration system and raised the temperature in a display cabinet to 50 degrees Celsius. This was stated to Estonian public broadcaster ERR by Jan Mutso, head of Kitman Coldtech, a manufacturer and distributor of refrigeration systems. He declined to say which chain was targeted.
The attack hit an older-generation Danfoss refrigeration system. Mutso said other customers in Estonia were also attacked, though the full details are not yet known. According to him, the attackers look for vulnerabilities in specific devices and are targeting sites that still have old, non-updated controllers. Other retail chains have already updated their controllers. No damage occurred, because the incident was responded to within ten minutes.
Mutso noted that the method resembles incidents in France and the Netherlands in October, in which temperature settings of supermarket refrigeration systems were altered. The company's customers include the chains Selver, Rimi, Coop and Lidl.
Sweden and Belgium
In Sweden, a few Ica stores, including in Stockholm and Sjöbo in Skåne county, had refrigerator and freezer malfunctions overnight into Monday, the outlet Sweden Herald reported. A cyberattack was also identified in six Coop stores.
In Belgium, hackers raised freezer temperatures in 15 Carrefour stores, a representative of the chain confirmed. Colruyt and Intermarché stores also had freezer problems, but those chains did not confirm a hacker attack.
Background
A couple of weeks ago a similar attack in France affected several hundred food stores. In some places temperatures were raised as high as 80 degrees, and several devices caught fire.
