In brief
An Xinhua‑reported cybersecurity incident has taken refrigeration systems offline at 13 SuperValu stores in Ireland, several ICA and Coop locations, a distributor for Axfood, dozens of Delhaize outlets, and five Spar stores, forcing retailers to pull perishable goods. The attacks affected a range of European chains, with one ICA store reportedly set to 50 °C. Authorities have not yet linked the incidents.
A cyber incident disrupted refrigeration systems at 13 SuperValu stores in Ireland and triggered similar failures across supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, and Luxembourg, forcing retailers to remove chilled and frozen goods. The incident, reported by Xinhua, comes after a major French attack last October that set supermarket temperatures dangerously high.
Musgrave Group, owner of SuperValu, said the disruption involved a specific model of refrigeration equipment and that stores were prompted to pull perishable products as a precaution. They stated that other non‑cold items remained available. The company is working with equipment suppliers and cybersecurity experts to investigate and restore normal operations.
A spokesperson for Musgrave said that monitoring systems had alerted the company and that immediate action was taken.
Our monitoring systems alerted us to the issue and we took immediate action,
In Sweden, Axfood said an IT breach had compromised freezer systems at a grocery distribution centre that handled home deliveries. ICA and Coop also reported overnight refrigeration problems, with Coop noting that six of its stores were affected and ICA confirming a limited number of locations were impacted. One ICA store reported that its refrigeration and freezer temperatures had been set to 50 °C following a suspected cyberattack.
In Belgium and Luxembourg, Delhaize announced that an IT incident had affected refrigeration systems at dozens of stores, while Colruyt Group said five Spar outlets were attacked. The scale of the incidents mirrors the October French hack that caused temperatures to rise sharply and led to significant food spoilage and, in some cases, fires.
Authorities have not yet established whether the latest incidents across Europe are linked or who may be responsible.
