Supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia were hit Monday by problems with freezers and fridges that apparently were caused by cyberattacks, forcing some to dispose of ruined food.
The problems follow a case last month in which attackers remotely took control of refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores across France, sending temperatures soaring.
In Sweden, ICA Group supermarket chain spokesperson Gustaf Nilsson told news agency TT that “a limited number” of stores were affected overnight by an incident that affected refrigeration and freezing systems. He declined to give a specific number.
The ICA Kvantum branch in Sjöbo in southern Sweden wrote on its Facebook page that its fridges and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). It said it was working to discard the affected items.
The Coop chain said that six of its stores in central Sweden had problems with their fridges and freezers, TT reported, though it didn’t immediately have details.
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The Delhaize chain said that an “IT incident” had affected refrigeration systems in several dozen of its stores, mostly in Belgium but also a few in neighboring Luxembourg.
“In the affected stores, the range of fresh and frozen products is temporarily somewhat limited. Our distribution centers are operating normally, and there has been no disruption to deliveries to our stores,” spokesperson Sarah De Meester said.
The Carrefour supermarket chain in Belgium said a “cyberattack targeting refrigeration installations only had an extremely limited impact,” affecting 15 of its more than 700 stores.
In Estonia, a company that makes the affected technology said that one of its clients had been hit by a cyberattack in which attackers accessed a computer controlling refrigeration and turned up the temperature to 50 degrees Celsius, public broadcaster ERR reported.
Jann Mutso, the CEO of Kitman Coldtech, declined to say which store’s cooling system had been affected but said that the attack was responded to within minutes and there was no significant damage. The Selver chain said one of its outlets was affected.
The cyberattacks in France appeared to target old systems.
” fridges and freezers had been hacked”
It’s odd that this kind of thing never happened before the ‘convenience’ of online controls. It happens when people are replaced by ‘the machine’ to do critical tasks. Too much dependency on AI just to save a few dollars by not having people doing these kind of jobs.
Can’t wait until all those stupid digital price tags are reset to half price.
Who controls a freezer temperature day by day? You set a freezer to a temperature and never changes again. Keep that in mind if you buy any Internet connected appliances.
This is what happens when you buy anything from China. Everything they produce has wifi and can be accessed remotely.
My friggin Roomba posted pictures online of me on the shitter.
Good one! I had beer coming out my nose.
AI, and not many prepared with counter moves. Like me trying to play a master chess player. Can’t think of an easier bank, business, robbery, or is it officialdom in all countries flexing.
If I recall correctly, freezers worked just fine before the internet existed.
This is what happens when you buy anything from China. Everything they produce has wifi and can be accessed remotely.
My friggin Roomba posted pictures online of me on the shitter.
Open your heart and mind to the AI GOD, it will do a far better job of running EVERYTHING than mere mortals
AI. The lefties new demon! Right Ben?
AI had nothing to do with this. Someone thought that it would be a good idea to control fridges and freezers remotely. Our local Walmart has it’s store temperature set remotely. Imagine it being set to air condition full during a blizzard, or roast during a heat wave. You can even control lighting remotely. Imagine an operating room, programmed to have lighting during operating times being hacked during an operation. Yes, it can be done but first ask the question why, before thinking cyber security
is the problem
How many devices (front door, thermostat, washer/dryer, fridge, Security surveillance ) are in your home that people can hack into. Then ask yourself why.
Good luck to those folks who buy appliances, cars, home security, baby video monitors etc with technology that’s easily hacked into. These items aren’t even necessary! Stay with the basics in your life, keep it simple, less to worry about.
Ben you are clueless and naive, but keep up with your nonsense comments it’s good for a belly laugh 😂
@Ben how easy would it be to turn off the machines in that hospital or raid people’s bank accounts because of using digital and AI over the internet. All in the name of convenience well I am pushing back for as long as I can.
@Dee Ironside. Respectfully, I think implementing what you’re suggesting would come at a significant cost to productivity and convenience. The value of internet connectivity is easy to illustrate with a real-world example: imagine an on call doctor at home who receives an urgent call to review an MRI of a patient experiencing a stroke. In that situation, having secure, immediate access to medical imaging can make a critical difference. Time is of the essence, and internet connectivity makes that possible without requiring the doctor to be physically at the hospital.
The answer is more cybersecurity and more guiderails on AI.
However, I agree with you that some systems don’t need to be hooked up to the internet. In this case, potentially an alarm could be setup to call someone if the temperature falls out of a certain range.
Maybe it is time for companies to stop using the the internet for everything and go back to private networks for better security.
Perhaps aided by AI.