Freezer Temps Hit 50 Degrees in Cyberattack Across Three Countries

Grocery store freezers in Sweden, Belgium, and Luxembourg began rising in temperature overnight, a pattern that matches a recent cyberattack in France. The sudden heat spikes forced retailers to respond to what appears to be a coordinated digital intrusion affecting physical cooling equipment.

John Billow, the head of Sweden’s national cybersecurity centre, confirmed to Reuters on Monday that his team is handling multiple incidents involving store cooling systems. He stated that the centre is actively responding to the disruptions. This confirmation follows reports from major Swedish retailers ICA and Coop, which noted that freezer temperatures jumped suddenly during the night.

In Belgium and Luxembourg, the Belga news agency reported that dozens of Ahold Delhaize stores experienced similar overnight temperature increases. Sabcobel chief executive Stephan Moelans attributed these rises to a cyberattack. An Ahold Delhaize spokesperson had earlier described the issue as an IT incident affecting fridges and freezers, noting that the company is currently investigating the matter.

The current disruptions echo a recent event in France, where a cyberattack on hundreds of supermarkets pushed temperatures to as high as 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 Fahrenheit. That incident spoiled food and triggered fires at several locations. One Swedish store posted on social media on Monday that its refrigerators and freezers had been set to the same specific temperature recorded during the French attack.

ICA, a privately held retailer, told Reuters in an email that a limited number of its stores were affected by the overnight incident. Coop, also privately held, informed the Swedish daily Aftonbladet that six of its locations suffered from similar cooling failures. Ahold Delhaize had previously reported a cybersecurity incident to Dutch police last month.