Fridge cyberattack hits supermarkets across Europe

Brussels (AFP) — A suspected cyberattack hit grocery stores across at least nine European countries on Monday, prompting the EU to warn of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc’s food supply chain.

Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden reported refrigeration problems that forced some retailers to discard food after temperatures rose overnight.

The incident came three weeks after a cyberattack disrupted French grocery stores and forced hundreds of outlets to throw away spoiled stock.

No one has claimed responsibility for either incident.

EU food and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen said the bloc was taking the incidents “very seriously.”

“They are a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumers’ confidence in it — a warning that we must take seriously,” he said.

In Italy, at least four Coop supermarkets in Sicily and one business in Tuscany were affected, according to media reports and the national cybersecurity agency.

The Italian government was to hold a cybersecurity meeting with intelligence services on Tuesday.

“The attack happened at 4 a.m. (0300 GMT),” Giuseppe Spadaro, head of the Radenza Group which manages Coop-branded supermarkets, told Italian news agency ANSA.

The attack targeted “our remote-control system for frozen food sections” and had since been resolved, he added.