Hackers took over supermarket freezers and refrigerators at dozens of European grocery stores overnight Sunday, pushing temperatures high enough to ruin food. The attack hit stores in Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, according to The Record and several other international media outlets. It also marks the second such breach in recent weeks, which signals a growing threat to the food retail cold chain.
Retail companies and equipment suppliers have described the incident as a cyberattack. So far, however, no police or government agency has identified the attackers.
Hackers Target Supermarket Freezers In Six Countries
Belgium suffered the widest damage. Retailers there have flagged more than 50 affected stores. Meanwhile, a “limited number” of smaller Swedish shops and more than a dozen others in Ireland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Luxembourg also reported problems.
Delhaize spotted the trouble early. Spokesperson Sarah De Meester said the chain detected rising temperatures in its cooling systems on Monday. Stephan Moelans, CEO of Sabcobel, the Belgian firm that operates Delhaize’s refrigeration, told the Belga news agency that the attackers switched the units’ evaporators to defrost mode.
Other Belgian grocers escaped with lighter losses. Colruyt Group, which runs Spar stores in Belgium through franchises, said attackers hit fridge systems at five shops. Similarly, Carrefour said the breach reached 15 of its more than 700 Belgian locations. Carrefour Belgium spokesman Mich Vergauwen left no room for doubt: “It’s a cyberattack, there is no other reason.”
Across the Baltic Sea, Swedish store managers faced the same scramble. John Billow, head of Sweden’s national cybersecurity center, told Reuters his team was handling several incidents involving grocery refrigeration. In Estonia, technology supplier Kitman Coldtech told public broadcaster ERR that attackers set one chain’s systems to 50 C, or about 122 F.
The Same Method That Crippled French Grocers
This playbook looks familiar. Last month, police in France said hackers took over cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets, raising temperatures as high as 122 F and causing fires and food losses. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told Parliament that roughly 700 of the country’s 10,000 supermarkets were affected.
Moreover, the two waves appear closely connected. Moelans told Belga that the Belgian attack used the same mechanism as the French one.
In France, investigators traced the weak spot to aging hardware. Danfoss told AFP that most of the compromised units were older products, including the AK-SM 800 and AK-SC 355, which no longer receive software or security updates.
Related Article: Europe’s Supermarket Cyberattack Puts U.S. Cold Chains on Alert
Researchers Warned Months Earlier
The danger was not without warning. In an August report, U.S. cybersecurity firm Claroty identified vulnerabilities in the Danfoss AK-SM 800A and Copeland XWeb Pro platforms, which manage refrigeration in supermarkets, warehouses, and other facilities. Claroty also found many of these controllers reachable directly from the public internet, though it noted that both vendors had since fixed the flaws.
After the French breach, regulators broadened their alert. France’s CERT-FR confirmed that refrigeration controls from Danfoss, Copeland and Dixell appeared among the affected equipment. In response, Danfoss urged customers to keep supported systems updated and replace older controllers with current models.
Responsibility, though, often sits with third parties. Coopérative U, for example, gets its Danfoss systems through refrigeration contractors rather than directly from the manufacturer.
Prosecutors and EU Officials Respond
Authorities acted quickly on Monday. Belgium’s federal prosecutor opened an investigation, and the country’s Center for Cybersecurity confirmed it is aware of the incident. At the same time, the European Commission said the attack shows how digital threats increasingly reach citizens’ everyday lives.
Why Every Grocer Should Check Its Cold Chain Now
For retail leaders, the warning extends far beyond Europe. Remote refrigeration controls now carry the same operational risk as payment terminals or ordering platforms. Therefore, grocers should map every connected controller, confirm which contractor manages it, and cut off open internet access.
Aging equipment also demands urgent review. End-of-life controllers without security patches offer attackers an easy entry point. Finally, store teams need clear manual override procedures and independent temperature alarms. Otherwise, a single overnight breach can empty a full fresh department before anyone notices.