Cyberattacks target refrigerators in European stores across 5 countries raising their temperature to 50 degrees Celsius

Refrigeration systems in a number of European supermarkets were hit by cyberattacks on Monday, causing refrigerators and freezers to overheat and damaging food, in a new wave of attacks that comes weeks after a similar attack targeted hundreds of stores in France.

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In Belgium and Luxembourg, Ahold Delhaize said a technical incident affected the cooling systems in dozens of stores, while Carrefour announced that 15 stores out of more than 700 in Belgium were affected, and Colruyt confirmed that the cooling systems in 5 of its stores were attacked.

The incidents extended to Ireland, where Musgrave Group, owner of the Super Value chain, announced that the refrigeration systems in 13 stores were affected, prompting them to remove some refrigerated and frozen products from shelves as a precaution. They confirmed that their investigation into the incident is ongoing. In Estonia, a refrigeration system in one store was attacked, raising temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius, before the incident was contained within minutes, according to Kitman Coldtech.

the Belgian incidents, the attackers managed to switch the evaporators to defrost mode, a process that raises the temperature of the refrigeration components to melt the accumulated ice, which led to a rise in temperatures inside the refrigerators.

Stefan Molance, CEO of Sabcobel, the operator of Delhaize's refrigeration systems, said that technical teams worked throughout the night to disconnect the affected units from the network to limit the effects of the attack, while a Belgian butcher shop chain estimated its losses at around 15,000 euros (about $16,000) as a result of meat damage, according to the agency.

This photograph shows a customer notice displayed on empty fresh-food refrigerators at an Intermarché supermarket in Nevez, western France, on October 12, 2026, following a cyberattack affecting the French supermarket chains Intermarché and Cooperative U that caused their refrigerators to defrost.