Hackers push supermarket freezers in six European countries to 50°C in second attack
Stores in Belgium, Sweden and four other countries lost stock as a flaw in online-controlled refrigeration was exploited again, and a software patch alone will not close it.
Supermarket refrigeration units across several European countries were disrupted in a second wave of suspected cyberattacks, with the attacker remotely switching freezers into defrost mode and pushing temperatures to 50°C. Reports count more than 115 affected stores spanning Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia, including chains such as ICA, Coop, Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour and Intermarché. The vendor Sabcobel said the same flaw exploited in a French attack last month was used again, and that a software patch alone will not fix it because units need physical changes. Most of its clients have since moved their units onto a secure internet connection as the interim fix. Investigators have not confirmed whether the incidents were one coordinated campaign or separate intrusions.
Why it matters
The attack shows that refrigeration units connected to the internet can be turned against the food they hold, and that the fix requires physical changes to equipment already in stores, not just a software update. Shoppers and supermarket operators in the affected countries face lost stock and disruption until the units are modified or kept off open connections. Investigators have not yet established whether the incidents were one coordinated campaign or separate intrusions, so the scope of the threat is still open.
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