Carrefour Belgium confirmed that refrigeration installations at 15 of its more than 700 stores were affected, mainly in frozen-food sections
Sweden’s National Cyber Security Centre is examining several incidents involving grocery retailers, including disruptions reported by ICA and Coop
The incidents follow October attacks on refrigeration controllers in France, prompting renewed concern over the security of internet-connected operational technology
Hackers Turn Up The Heat: Supermarket Refrigeration Systems Targeted Across Europe
Carrefour Belgium confirmed that refrigeration installations at 15 stores were targeted, while Sweden’s cybersecurity agency is examining several incidents involving grocery stores. The disruptions follow similar attacks on French supermarkets in October.
Summary
Supermarket refrigeration systems in Belgium and Sweden have been targeted in cyberattacks, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in remotely controlled equipment used to store food. Carrefour Belgium confirmed on Monday, that its refrigeration installations had been affected, while Sweden’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-SE) is examining several incidents involving grocery stores, Reuters reported.
Carrefour said 15 of its more than 700 Belgian stores experienced limited disruptions, mainly affecting frozen-food sections. No hypermarkets were affected, and all its stores remained open after immediate measures were taken to address the incidents.
Reports have also indicated disruptions at other Belgian retailers, including Delhaize and Spar, although separate official statements confirming the reported figures were not located.
In Sweden, incidents involving supermarket refrigeration systems were reported at ICA and Coop stores. NCSC director John Billow told Reuters that the agency was working on several incidents involving grocery retailers and had identified exposed operational technology devices in the country.
Billow said the agency had warned organisations about the need to update or patch vulnerable systems. He added that authorities could not speculate on who was responsible for the attacks.
How Were Freezers Targeted?
Modern supermarket refrigeration installations use connected controllers to regulate temperatures, compressor operations, defrost cycles and remote monitoring. If these systems are compromised, attackers can potentially interfere with their physical functions by changing operating settings.
A similar pattern was identified in France in October. The country's national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, issued an alert on October 12 after detecting numerous compromises involving remote refrigeration controllers manufactured by Danfoss, Copeland and Dixell.
CERT-FR warned against exposing refrigeration management interfaces directly to the internet and recommended secure remote access, firmware updates, password changes and checks of system configurations.
Wider Security Concerns
Sweden's CERT-SE had also documented the French refrigeration attacks in its October 16 weekly bulletin, highlighting the disruption caused to supermarket cold-storage systems.
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However, authorities have not established a connection between the French attacks and the latest incidents in Belgium and Sweden. There is also no confirmed attribution identifying those responsible or establishing whether the affected retailers used the same equipment or software.
The incidents have drawn attention to the cybersecurity of operational technology, where digital systems control physical infrastructure. For supermarkets, a compromise can disrupt refrigeration and potentially spoil perishable food even without affecting payment systems or customer databases.
Investigations are continuing, with the extent of the disruption and whether the attacks share a common technical origin still unclear.
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