European supermarkets hit by new fridge cyberattack

An IT incident overnight hit fridges and freezers in dozens of stores in Belgium and Luxembourg, companies said, while Swedish grocers reported similar temperature spikes, with one store blaming a cyberattack.

The incidents follow an attack in France last month, in which police said hackers seized control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets, raising temperatures as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit and causing fires and food losses.

One retailer also reported a cybersecurity incident to Dutch police last month after it detected suspicious activity in its infrastructure.

On Monday, the Ahold Delhaize supermarket chain realized there were temperature increases in the cooling systems, spokesperson Sarah De Meester said. The company is investigating the incident.

Stephan Moelans, the CEO of Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel, which operates Delhaize’s systems, told the Belga news agency that the incident was a cyberattack, in which the units’ evaporators were switched to defrost mode. Moelans’ office declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

A spokesperson for Colruyt Group, which operates Spar stores in Belgium under a franchise system, said five shops had their fridge systems attacked.

From refrigerators and heating systems to security cameras and alarm networks, an expanding range of devices once largely mechanical…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business