Every country on high alert as cyberattacks force supermarkets to pull food from fridges
Grocery stores across Europe have been hit by a wave of cyber attacks, with hackers interfering with fridges and freezers, resulting in thousands of dollars worth of food waste.
The incidents have been reported in several countries across the continent including the likes of Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
Refrigeration temperatures were reported as being as high as 50 degrees celsius (122 degrees fahrenheit) in stores including SuperValu in Ireland, which confirmed that chilled and frozen products were taken off the shelves.
The chain went on to say that the incident had impacted its refrigerators at 13 out of its 223 locations.
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Meanwhile, ICA and Co-op were hit by the attack in Sweden, with other stores in Luxembourg and Belgium also impacted.
Many people have taken to social media to react to the news, with one user writing on Reddit: “The reason is that the supermarkets employ companies to monitor the refrigeration systems so that if they fail they don't lose money on spoiled food. They likely are not directly connected to the internet but have been compromised through an internal network which is even more alarming.”
And another added: “Honestly if this teaches companies, governments, and individuals to stop connecting everything to the internet it's ultimately a good thing they're being hacked now.”
As reported by Sky News, Engla Ingwall, who is the sales manager of an ICA store in Stockholm, said: “There has been a cyberattack and all our freezers reached 50C. Everything is destroyed.”
Store owners speak out about the ‘scary’ attack
Meanwhile, founder and owner of Belgian butchery chain De Laet & Van Haver, Luc De Laet, stated: “It’s very scary. They are hacking the system that is doing the registration of the temperature, and they can program it at a distance.”
Speaking to Sky News, Tom Hegel, a researcher at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, shared: “Retail is an easy target because retail chains run enormous estates of refrigeration controllers, building management systems, door access panels and point-of-sale gear. Grocery margins are thin and stock perishes within hours, so any disruption hurts quickly and in public.”
This isn’t the first grocery store cyber attack
This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred as, just last month, hundreds of stores across France were hit by a large-scale attack that meant they lost control of their refrigeration systems.
Temperatures of the fridges and freezers rose up to 50C, causing millions of euros worth of damage.