Symbolic imageSupermarket freezers overheated across Europe weeks after French attack
Hackers remotely overheated fridges and freezers at dozens of supermarkets in six European countries on Monday. The EU calls it a deliberate attempt to disrupt food supply.
Stores of ICA and Coop in Sweden, Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt in Belgium and Luxembourg, and 13 SuperValu shops in Ireland were hit overnight, as were shops in Finland and Estonia. An ICA store in Sjöbo reported 50C. Bloomberg says the impact looks far more limited than in France, where Le Monde counts nearly 700 stores attacked on the night of 11 to 12 October. EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen called it "a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain", while stressing that food security was not at risk.
Same supplier, open connections
Stephan Moelans of Belgian refrigeration firm Sabcobel says hackers put evaporators into defrost mode and targeted systems with unsecured internet connections. As in France, the controllers came from Danish firm Danfoss, which says it advised customers to disconnect from public IP addresses and update firmware.
Culprit unknown
Nobody has claimed responsibility. Belgium's Center for Cybersecurity says the perpetrator may never be identified, while Sophos analyst Rafe Pilling sees state signalling or a lone hacker as most plausible. Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in sabotage.
Israel issues warning
Israel's National Cyber Directorate told retail chains to inspect refrigeration systems that allow remote access.