Kremlin denies Russian role in cyberattacks on European supermarket fridges

The second wave across Europe

Cooling and freezer systems at supermarket chains in several European countries were hit again within weeks of the attacks in France. Sources place the disruptions on 2 and 3 November, and the lists of affected countries differ between reports. One account names Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia and the Netherlands, while another adds Italy and Latvia. In some freezers temperatures climbed as high as 50 degrees Celsius, forcing retailers to destroy or pull large quantities of food. In Belgium, Delhaize and Colruyt stores were affected, and in Sweden ICA and Coop reported problems, while SuperValu in Ireland and Selver in Estonia recorded similar incidents. The Italian government said the impact there was limited, with five supermarkets and two smaller shops in the Veneto and Sicily regions hit.

The French attacks and the Greek cases

The November wave closely resembles an attack on French supermarkets about three weeks earlier. NEWS 24/7 reports that on the night of Sunday, 11 October, the freezers of about 700 supermarkets in France were switched to defrost mode, pushing temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius, and that large amounts of food were thrown out. Another account describes hackers gaining access to the cooling control systems of hundreds of supermarkets, causing significant financial losses. Three blood banks in France were also hit, but official sources said nothing was destroyed after alarms went off. NEWS 24/7 also reports intrusions in Greece, at a butcher's shop in Kifisia and at businesses in Arta, Ioannina, Preveza and Heraklion. Greece's National Cybersecurity Authority had issued warnings earlier and has now confirmed the identification of 300 vulnerable professional devices.

Who is behind the attacks

The Kremlin, through spokesman Dmitry Peskov, rejects the accusations linking Moscow to the incidents and calls them absurd. No official or independently confirmed attribution of responsibility to Russia exists so far. Two pro-Russian hacker groups, NoName057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance, nonetheless appeared to claim the attacks in online posts. Authorities have not publicly explained how the attackers got in, and no perpetrator has been identified. Laurent Sinzié, a security researcher at the Cyber 3 Lab of Howest University of Applied Sciences in Bruges, said the affected devices should never have been exposed to the public internet. He pointed to default passwords that were never changed and older software with known weaknesses, and said artificial intelligence makes such attacks easier for amateurs. Jake Moore of Eset told the BBC that the remote access engineers use to adjust temperatures can be exploited, and that installers often leave shared security keys unchanged. Peskov also commented on the US elections, the war in Ukraine and tankers carrying Russian diesel to the United States that have begun changing destination.

Company responses and what comes next

Supermarkets said on Tuesday, 3 November, that they had taken the compromised refrigerators offline on the guidance of Danfoss, a supplier of software that monitors cooling systems. Danfoss said it is working with its customers to resolve the problem. Coop said seven attacked stores reopened after being disconnected from the internet, and that it is moving to 5G and modern modems while leaving 4G connections behind. ICA said all 23 affected stores had equipment connected outside the chain's centrally managed network. Fifteen Carrefour stores in Belgium were targeted again, following an attack on 80 franchise stores in France.

ICA (Sweden), affected23

Coop (Sweden), reopened7

Carrefour (Belgium), targeted15

Supermarkets in Italy5

ICA (Sweden), affected

23 stores

Coop (Sweden), reopened

7 stores

Carrefour (Belgium), targeted

15 stores

Supermarkets in Italy

5 stores

Data from the article text

Italy's government met at Palazzo Chigi with Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida and Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, who is responsible for the security of the Republic. The meeting agreed on stronger prevention, systematic monitoring and analysis of threats, regular contacts with trade bodies, and protocols to limit possible consequences.