Cyberattacks disrupt supermarket refrigeration systems, causing fridge temperatures to rise across Europe

A cyberattack targeting supermarket chains across Europe on Monday disrupted refrigeration and freezer systems, forcing several stores to discard food products after temperatures rose significantly.

The incident affected retailers in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg, including Ahold Delhaize, Colruyt, ICA and Coop. At least one IKEA store was also reportedly impacted.

In Sweden, an ICA franchise outlet in Stockholm discovered that its freezers had reached temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius after the attack, according to its sales manager. The disruption reportedly began around 2am but went unnoticed for several hours.

ICA confirmed that a limited number of its stores had been affected by an overnight incident involving their cooling and freezing equipment.

The latest disruption comes weeks after a similar cyberattack in France, where hackers reportedly took control of refrigeration systems at hundreds of supermarkets, resulting in fires and food losses.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the incidents, the attacks have raised concerns among European authorities about potential cyber threats to critical infrastructure amid heightened security tensions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.