Yes.
Ironing out the digital bugs?
And the narrative engineerring responses?
Why the hell are the freezers hooked up to the internet anyway? fricking stupid.
The Whole Foods here had their fridges die but thatās cuz they were old or something.
And thus not all of them, like maybe 25%.
Maybe this will teach them to disconnect from the internetā¦and just use them asā¦freezersā¦
ā¦ I guess it is just too much to ask an employee or two to occasionally check the temperatures on the cooling units to see if they are keeping things cool / cold. Hmmmm. Maybe we do need human beings to physically check on thermometers. We should add to the list of jobs for which we need actual people ā Freezer Technician / Engineer. I know they are just āchecking thermometersā but the title will increase their self-esteem.
Food Storage Safety Technician
second
Dozens of grocery stores across at least eight European countries have been hit by a coordinated cyberattack that forced connected refrigerators and freezers to overheat. Hackers breached the internet-connected systems regulating the grocery infrastructure, remotely switching evaporators into ādefrost modeā and spiking temperatures from normal freezing levels to as high as 50Ā°C (122Ā°F). This massive operational failure has forced supermarkets to throw away millions of euros worth of spoiled frozen and chilled inventory. [1, 2, 3]
This widespread disruption marks the second time within a month that European food infrastructure has faced a critical cooling failure. [1]
The Core Details
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The Affected Countries: Outbreaks of the system overrides hit grocery chains in Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, Estonia, Finland, and the Netherlands. [1, 2]
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Targeted Systems: The attackers exploited vulnerabilities in remote operational technology. Specifically, systems managed by refrigeration technology installers like Belgian firm Sabcobel and hardware from suppliers like Danfoss were heavily impacted. [1, 2, 3, 4]
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Major Chains Hit: Impacted retail giants include Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, Colruyt, and Spar in Belgium; ICA and Coop in Sweden; and SuperValu in Ireland. [1, 2, 3]
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The Underlying Vulnerability: The targeted commercial cooling systems use smart, internet-linked controls so maintenance teams can troubleshoot problems remotely. Cyber security experts note that systems still using older software or running over less secure 4G connections were much more vulnerable than units requiring physical modifications or running on highly protected local networks. [1, 2]
A Pattern of Food Supply Sabotage
The widespread breakdown follows an identical āunprecedentedā cyberattack in France that crippled up to 700 supermarkets, leading to catastrophic food waste and isolated equipment fires. Government officials from Swedenās National Cybersecurity Centre and European Union Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen have openly called the targeted disruptions a deliberate attempt to compromise European food security supply chains. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Local authorities and national cyber agencies are currently coordinating investigations into who is executing the hacks, though no group has claimed responsibility.
Suspected cyberattacks targeting refrigeration systems on Monday have affected food businesses across eight European countries, causing food losses and prompting a criminal investigation in Belgium.
Incidents were reported in Sweden, Belgium, Estonia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark, while Finnish retailers were investigating whether overnight temperature irregularities were linked.
EU Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen described the attacks as a deliberate attempt to disrupt European food security, Danish broadcaster DR reported.
Hansen said food security was not at risk, but the disruption and resulting food waste had a tangible impact on businesses. He called for coordinated efforts to strengthen resilience throughout the supply chain.
Sweden
Several ICA stores were affected, most in Skane, alongside locations on Oland, in Varmland and Stockholm.
Six Coop stores in Gastrikland and Halsingland were also hit.
At ICA Nara in Boda, on Oland, manager Mats Olsson said he found water covering the floor and a freezer temperature reading of 55C (131F).
Refrigeration units had reportedly been switched off, spoiling food.
āRight now we are emptying the freezers, there is not much else to do. They are about to get cold again, but everything is ruined,ā said Dennis Vidal, an ICA manager in Sankt Olof.
ICA spokesman Gustaf Nilsson said the company was investigating and assisting stores, whose affected connections were outside its central network.
Coop confirmed unauthorized manipulation in a cyber incident and identified Danfoss among its suppliers.
Belgium, Luxembourg
Delhaize, Carrefour and Spar supermarkets were affected in Belgium.
Sabcobel CEO Stephan Moelans told Belga the attack began around midnight Sunday, affecting around 20 refrigeration units managed by the installer.
Attackers remotely switched evaporators to defrost mode, warming refrigerators, he said.
Shopkeeper Gerte Bouchet estimated at least ā¬60,000 worth of food was discarded, Het Belang van Limburg reported.
Carrefour confirmed 15 stores were targeted across Flanders and Wallonia.
IKEA reported a cyberattack affecting refrigeration units and freezers at its Mons store.
Belgian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation. Colruyt and Intermarche reported refrigeration problems at five and around 15 stores, respectively, without confirming cyberattacks.
Ahold Delhaize reported an IT incident affecting dozens of stores in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Ireland, Denmark
A suspected cyberattack affected a specific refrigeration model at 13 SuperValu stores, parent company Musgrave said.
Monitoring systems detected the issue, prompting immediate action. Chilled and frozen goods were withdrawn as a precaution; other products remained available.
Some outlets, including Bray, County Wicklow, opened late.
Musgrave later said the problems were fully resolved and all stores were operating normally, with replenishment under way, RTE reported.
Danish food producer was also targeted, the Confederation of Danish Industry told DR.
Adviser Jeppe Engell said its supplier stopped the attack and took preventive measures. He said it was linked to incidents elsewhere.
Coop Denmark and Salling Group reported no similar disruption.
Finland, Netherlands, Estonia
A few Kesko-operated Finnish stores reported temperature problems. Security chief Petri Kayhko said affected equipment was outside centralized protection and a cyberattack had not been ruled out, Yle reported.
At one Helsinki store, equipment malfunctioned for one to two hours.
At least 17 Dutch businesses, including butcher shops, neighborhood stores and a frozen food storage facility, were targeted, Danfoss told NOS.
Danfoss said affected systems used default passwords and were outside secure networks.
In Estonia, hackers accessed a computer controlling refrigeration at a Selver supermarket and changed a freezerās temperature, ERR reported.
I have the same response to this situation as the first time ā¦ Why are the coolers and freezers āsmartā to begin with? and ā¦ After the first āattackā why were they not changed from smart to dumb? Iām sorry ā¦ if you didnāt alter the coolers and a freezers in some way after the first attack you can not be helped. What did you think would happen following the success of the first āattackā?
ā¦ I guess it is just too much to ask an employee or two to occasionally check the temperatures on the cooling units to see if they are keeping things cool / cold. Hmmmm. Maybe we do need human beings to physically check on thermometers. We should add to the list of jobs for which we need actual people ā Freezer Technician / Engineer. I know they are just āchecking thermometersā but the title will increase their self-esteem.
Call me paranoid but itās almost as if they implemented all this āsmartāā garbage almost exclusively to establish a vulnerability just such as thisā¦
How about payphones? Or railroads? One might think that a previously established and relatively low maintenance infrastructure like these two examples might make for a great backup system at the very least. Cell phones hacked? Diesel shortage?ā¦ allow me to present landlines and steam enginesā¦.
Youāre welcome