Cyberattacks Raise Temperatures in Supermarket Freezers Across Seven European Countries

Cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems struck stores in at least seven European countries on November 2, 2026, raising freezer and refrigerator temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius and forcing retailers to discard large quantities of food. The incidents followed a similar wave that affected hundreds of French stores the previous month.

Affected countries included Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland. Around 40 Delhaize stores in Belgium and Luxembourg reported problems. Carrefour confirmed impacts at 15 of its 700 Belgian locations. ICA and Coop stores in Sweden, SuperValu in Ireland, and additional chains in the other countries also recorded temperature spikes. One Belgian Delhaize manager estimated €100,000 in lost produce at a single store.

Sabcobel, a Belgian manufacturer of some of the units, said the evaporators had been switched to defrost mode, causing the cabinets to warm. This matches the method used in the French incidents. Several chains described the events as IT incidents or confirmed cyberattacks. An ICA store in Sjöbo, Sweden, posted that its freezers had been set to 50 degrees overnight.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen called the repeated attacks a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence. No group has claimed responsibility. Security researchers had previously warned that certain Danfoss refrigeration controllers, some out of support since 2021, were exposed on the internet. A Shodan scan earlier identified nearly 13,000 open refrigeration management services across 99 countries.

Stores removed spoiled chilled and frozen goods and, in some cases, temporarily closed sections or entire outlets. Losses include both the value of discarded stock and lost sales during cleanup. The attacks demonstrate how internet-connected commercial equipment can be reached remotely when default credentials or unpatched controllers remain in place.

The second wave arrived three weeks after the French incidents and expanded the geographic scope. Retailers are now checking whether the same controller vulnerabilities were used. National cybersecurity centers in Sweden and Belgium opened investigations. The pattern raises the possibility of coordinated targeting of a specific class of refrigeration hardware rather than individual store networks.

Food safety rules require discard of products that have exceeded safe temperature thresholds for more than a short period. That requirement turns a technical intrusion into immediate economic loss and potential supply interruptions at the local level. Recovery depends on how quickly stores can reset systems and restock.