Cyber-attack disables supermarket freezers across four European countries

Dozens of supermarkets across Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Ireland have been targeted by a suspected cyber-attack that disabled refrigeration and freezer systems. As reported by Public Radio of Armenia citing the BBC, the incident occurred in early November and resulted in the spoilage of food worth millions of euros.

The technical failure affected approximately 40 Delhaize stores in Belgium and Luxembourg, several ICA and Coop outlets in Sweden, as well as 13 SuperValu supermarkets in Ireland. In one Swedish ICA store, the attackers remotely altered the settings, raising the temperature in the freezers to 50 degrees Celsius.

According to local media reports, retail chains have been forced to dispose of massive quantities of spoiled food. Representatives of the Delhaize chain confirmed to Belgian journalists that the "computer incident" took place overnight. The manager of a branch in the Belgian town of Hoeilaart reported losses of 100,000 euros from ruined produce alone.

This preliminary estimate does not even take into account the further financial losses that will inevitably result from the temporary closure of our shop, — the branch manager emphasized.

The national cyber-security agencies of Belgium and Sweden have officially stated that they are closely monitoring the situation and investigating the incident. The identities of the attackers remain unknown, though experts note that a similar breach affected hundreds of French supermarkets last month.