Supermarket freezers in several European countries hit by apparent cyberattacks

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia were hit Monday by problems with freezers and fridges that apparently were caused by cyberattacks, forcing some to dispose of ruined food.

The problems follow a case last month in which attackers remotely took control of refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores across France, sending temperatures soaring.

Gustaf Nilsson, a spokesperson for Sweden’s ICA Group supermarket chain, told the TT news agency that “a limited number” of stores were affected overnight by an incident that affected refrigeration and freezing systems. He declined to give a specific number.

An ICA Kvantum store in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, said its fridges and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). In a Facebook post, it said staff were discarding affected products.

The Coop chain said that six of its stores in central Sweden had problems with their fridges and freezers, TT reported, though it didn’t immediately have details.

The Delhaize chain said that an “IT incident” had affected refrigeration systems in several dozen of its stores, mostly in Belgium but also a few in neighboring Luxembourg.

“In the affected stores, the range of fresh and frozen products is temporarily somewhat limited. Our distribution centers are operating normally, and there has been no disruption to deliveries to our stores,” spokesperson Sarah De Meester said.

Carrefour said a cyberattack targeting refrigeration systems had affected 15 of its more than 700 stores in Belgium, describing the impact as “extremely limited.”

In Estonia, a refrigeration technology company said attackers had accessed a computer controlling a client’s refrigeration system and raised the temperature to 50 degrees Celsius, public broadcaster ERR reported.

Jann Mutso, chief executive of Kitman Coldtech, declined to identify the store but said the attack was addressed within minutes and caused no significant damage. The Selver supermarket chain said one of its outlets was affected.

In Ireland, 13 SuperValu stores were affected, The Irish Times reported. A spokesperson for Musgrave Group, which owns SuperValu, told the newspaper that chilled and frozen products had been removed from sale as a precaution.

Only a specific refrigerator model was affected, the newspaper reported.

The cyberattacks in France appeared to target old systems.

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