Supermarket refrigeration systems hit by widespread cyber attacks across Europe

The Attacks

Refrigeration systems in supermarkets across multiple European countries were recently targeted in a wave of cyber attacks. In France, 150 Intermarche stores discovered their refrigeration units running at 50 degrees Celsius in October. Three weeks later, a similar pattern emerged in supermarkets located in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Sweden.

Context

Modern grocery stores rely heavily on digital networks and connected computer systems to monitor and control vital in-store equipment like refrigeration units. When these centralized digital networks face security breaches or malicious interference, physical store operations can be disrupted quickly across many locations at once.