Cyberattacks hit supermarket freezers across Europe

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A worker loads frozen goods into shopping carts to be thrown away at ICA Kvantum in Sjöbo, Sweden, on Monday after multiple stores suffered problems with their refrigerators and freezers overnight. Johan Nilsson /TT News Agency via AP

Cyberattacks hit supermarket freezers across Europe

Dozens of grocery stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia, and the Netherlands on Monday discarded spoiled food from their inventory after their refrigerator and freezer temperatures spiked overnight. According to local news reports, hackers reset the appliances to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). The cooling systems at the stores were connected to the internet to allow for remote troubleshooting and maintenance.

Has this happened before? Supermarkets across France last month experienced a similar cyberattack that forced hundreds of stores to throw out their cold products. Meanwhile, military bases in the United States over the summer also reported freezers suddenly switching to defrost mode.

Why would hackers target freezers? Authorities in Europe and the United States have not said who might be behind the attacks, and no group or country has claimed responsibility. Cybersecurity experts have warned that similar attacks could target any grocery store that uses machines connected to the internet.

Dig deeper: Read John Dawson’s WORLD Magazine report about a September refrigerator software update that left South Koreans with spoiled food.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.