Dozens of stores in various European countries have fallen victim to cyberattacks. Much like an incident that occurred in France in October, these attacks targeted refrigerators and freezers by raising the temperature inside them, reports the BBC.In Belgium and Luxembourg, approximately 40 stores belonging to the supermarket chain Delhaize were affected; stores operated by other companies in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Finland were also impacted. The Belgian company Sabcobel—a manufacturer of some of the hacked refrigerators—stated that the cooling systems were switched to a defrost mode, causing them to warm up. It is believed that this is the same method used by attackers against supermarkets in France, an incident that resulted in the disposal of food worth millions of euros.On the 2nd of November, Sabcobel CEO Stephan Moelan confirmed that the incident was a cyberattack. He noted that company staff had been working throughout the night and morning to disconnect the affected equipment from the network. He stated that since the attack in France, the company has been working to address vulnerabilities in customers’ refrigerators; however, some units require physical modifications in addition to software updates.It is reported that temperatures inside refrigerators in several stores exceeded 50 degrees, and it is currently unknown who carried out the attacks.Meanwhile, US authorities are investigating the cause of malfunctions in refrigerators at several American military bases—incidents that were discovered in August—and are working with their French counterparts to determine whether the events are connected.In Sweden, a cyberattack has affected several ICA and Coop stores. An ICA representative confirmed that the attack impacted a number of smaller stores that operate outside of ICA’s main network.
Cyberattacks target stores across several European countries
