Rabat – A wave of cyberattacks against European retailers left supermarket freezers and refrigerators unable to preserve food on Monday, with stores across several countries forced to discard spoiled products after hackers remotely altered temperature controls.
The attacks affected major retailers in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Ireland, as well as at least one IKEA store in Belgium. Several businesses reported substantial food losses after their refrigeration units reached temperatures far above safe storage levels.
Among the affected companies were Ahold Delhaize, Colruyt, Sweden’s ICA and Coop, and Ireland’s Musgrave, which operates SuperValu stores.
The incident came less than a month after a similar attack in France, where hackers reportedly took control of refrigeration systems at hundreds of supermarkets. That incident caused fires and significant food losses, while investigators have yet to identify those responsible.
At an ICA franchise store in Stockholm, the damage became apparent only hours after the attack. Engla Ingwall, the store’s sales manager, told Reuters that hackers struck at around 2 a.m., but staff discovered the problem later in the morning.
The store’s freezers had reached 50 degrees Celsius, leaving its food stocks beyond recovery.
ICA confirmed that a limited number of its stores had suffered an overnight incident that affected refrigeration and freezer equipment.
The latest attacks have also raised questions about whether European retailers face a broader campaign against their infrastructure. No individual or group has claimed responsibility, and investigators have not established a link between Monday’s incidents and the previous attack in France.
Katrien Eggers, spokesperson for Belgium’s Centre for Cybersecurity, said authorities might never identify the perpetrators. She also warned that artificial intelligence could give hackers new ways to exploit weaknesses in digital systems.
“All IT systems are potentially vulnerable, and AI can now be used to successfully exploit these weaknesses, especially by sophisticated actors,” she said.
Digital weaknesses put food supply at risk
The attacks illustrate how cybercriminals can exploit technology far beyond computers and conventional IT networks. Supermarkets increasingly rely on connected systems to regulate refrigeration, manage buildings, monitor security cameras, and control access to their premises.
A breach of these systems can therefore cause physical damage and disrupt daily operations without a direct attack on a company’s main computer network.
Some of the refrigeration units affected on Monday used temperature-control technology from Danish manufacturer Danfoss, whose equipment also came under attack during last month’s incidents in France. The company said it was working with customers to address the vulnerabilities.
Belgium’s Colruyt Group reported attacks on refrigeration systems at five stores. In Ireland, wholesaler Musgrave said 13 SuperValu outlets had suffered disruptions. The company removed some chilled and frozen products from sale after its monitoring systems detected the problem.
Carrefour also reported damage at 15 of its 700 stores in Belgium. IKEA confirmed that one Belgian store had been affected, while Swedish grocery chain Coop identified unauthorized interference with refrigeration systems at seven of its 800 outlets.
The incidents prompted concern from the European Commission, particularly over their potential impact on food distribution and consumer confidence.
Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen described the attacks as a deliberate attempt to disrupt Europe’s food supply chain and undermine public trust in it. He called their recurrence deeply concerning.
Cybersecurity researcher Tom Hegel of SentinelOne said retail chains were attractive targets because of their extensive networks of connected equipment, from refrigeration controllers to payment systems and security infrastructure.
He identified extortion, political motives, and state-sponsored operations as possible explanations for such attacks. However, the absence of financial demands in recent cases could point to sabotage rather than conventional cybercrime.
Hegel also noted that attacks against exposed control panels can leave little evidence, which makes it difficult for investigators to establish who carried them out.
The repeated attacks have placed European retailers under renewed pressure to strengthen the security of systems that protect food stocks and support essential business operations.
While the perpetrators and their motives remain unclear, the incidents show how a cyberattack on seemingly ordinary equipment can quickly translate into financial losses, food waste, and disruption across the retail sector.
