European supermarket cyberattack raises freezer temperatures

Supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg reported that refrigerator and freezer temperatures rose overnight in a suspected cyberattack. The incident affected dozens of stores, including those operated by Ahold Delhaize, ICA and Coop, causing significant food losses. It followed a similar attack in October that affected up to 700 French supermarkets, highlighting the vulnerability of internet-connected cooling systems.

The UK National Cyber Security Centre said vulnerable technology was exploited in the UK after supermarket fridges and freezers were hacked across Europe on Monday. Its chief executive said the body worked through the night to alert potentially affected organisations. The British Association of Independent Meat Suppliers said some of its more than 300 members were affected. Hackers raised temperatures in Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom, bringing the number of affected European countries to at least 11. The EU promised a collective response, while no one had claimed responsibility.

Ahold Delhaize said last month's cyberattack will reduce fourth-quarter net sales by €200 million to €250 million and operating income by €75 million to €100 million. The retailer took systems offline as a precaution and expects incremental response and remediation costs to have a marginal impact in the fourth quarter. It said most disruption was contained within two weeks and there was no evidence of customer or employee data theft.