A new wave of cyberattacks has affected supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe, reportedly causing connected fridges and freezers to heat up to extremely high temperatures. The incidents have forced some stores to dispose of food that was no longer safe to sell.
The attacks follow incidents in France in early October, when hackers targeted hundreds of refrigerators across supermarkets and other stores over two days. Similar activity has now been reported in Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia.
According to the BBC, 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, along with 13 Supervalu stores in Ireland. ICA and Coop shops in Sweden were also targeted. An ICA spokesperson said the company’s refrigerators and freezers had been accessed overnight and set to 50 degrees.
HLN reported that IKEA in Belgium was affected as well, although the impact on most customers was described as limited. Some retailers attributed the disruption to a malfunction, while others referred to it as an IT incident when explaining why food had to be discarded.
Stephan Moelans, chief executive of refrigeration installer Sabcobel, told Belga that the company was working to protect customers from the vulnerability. He said that managing refrigerators through a secure internet connection was the simplest solution and that many customers had adopted it after the attacks in France.
Some suppliers reportedly responded quickly after detecting small temperature increases, and the affected stores have so far contained the incidents. The attacks add to recent concerns about the security and reliability of connected household and commercial appliances.
Sources: Dexerto.