Suspected cyberattack disrupts supermarket refrigeration in Europe

A suspected cyberattack disrupted refrigeration systems at supermarkets in several European countries overnight, with retailers reporting affected stores and refrigeration company Sabcobel’s chief executive describing a remote attack that switched units into defrost mode. The responsible actor and whether the incidents were coordinated remain unestablished. Ahold Delhaize said an overnight IT incident affected refrigeration systems in several dozen stores and that it was investigating. Carrefour Belgium reported that 15 of its 700 stores were affected; it said action was taken and stores remained open. Musgrave Group said a cyber incident affected refrigeration systems in 13 SuperValu stores in Ireland. In Sweden, Coop said seven of its more than 800 stores were affected and the situation was contained and under control. Stephan Moelans, Sabcobel’s chief executive, characterized the disruption as a cyberattack. He said technicians disconnected affected installations overnight and that evaporators had been switched to defrost mode, causing temperatures to rise. His account describes a mechanism, but the wider cause and any connection among incidents in different countries have...