Reactions to the freezer attacks

EU: Aimed at disrupting Europe’s food supply chain

Cyberattacks targeting freezers in several European countries represent a “deliberate attempt to disrupt” the EU’s food supply chain and damage consumer confidence, according to EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen, as reported by Reuters.

“Food safety is not compromised [...] but food waste and the impact on business operations are very real,” he stated.

Grocery stores in Sweden, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, and Luxembourg were affected by the suspected attack overnight into Monday. Six of the 800 stores operated by the Swedish chain Coop were impacted.

“We can confirm that this is a cyber incident. The issue has now been resolved, and the refrigerators and freezers are functioning as normal,” spokesperson Carlos Cancino told AFP.

The six affected stores were using the 4G network rather than 5G, which made them particularly vulnerable, according to Cancino.

Freezers in Belgium, Ireland, Finland, and Estonia affected

Freezers in several European countries have been targeted in suspected cyberattacks, Bloomberg reports.

In addition to Sweden, reports have also emerged from Belgium, Ireland, Finland, and Estonia.

In Belgium, freezers in 40 grocery stores have been affected, according to *Le Soir*.

According to Werner Muylle, Chief Operating Officer at the affected grocery chain Delhaize, someone gained access to the freezer systems and switched them to defrost mode, causing temperatures to rise significantly. Le Soir reports that the incident may be linked to the cybersecurity incidents that knocked out the freezers in 150 French grocery stores earlier in October.

Freezers at at least one IKEA store have been affected.

IKEA has also been affected by the suspected cyberattack targeting freezers, the furniture giant stated, according to Reuters.

At present, it is only known that the store in Mons, Belgium, has been affected, but IKEA does not rule out the possibility that more locations could be involved. Food products had to be removed from the freezers and went to waste, they added.

Grocery stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Finland, and Estonia were affected by Monday’s attacks. On October 12, hundreds of stores in France were hit by a similar attack.