On Monday 2 November hackers got into the refrigeration controls of supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Ireland, pushing fridge and freezer temperatures well above safe levels overnight. Stores had to bin stock. It follows a similar attack on hundreds of French supermarkets last month, which spoiled food worth millions of euros. One Stockholm store manager told Reuters "Everything is destroyed" and said the attack happened in the early hours and was only noticed hours later.
The numbers give a sense of scale without being end-of-the-world. Carrefour said around 15 of its 700 Belgian stores were hit; Coop in Sweden said about half a dozen of its roughly 800. In Ireland, Musgrave pulled chilled and frozen products from 13 SuperValu stores as a precaution and had systems back to normal later the same day. Dozens of stores in all, including Ahold Delhaize, Colruyt and ICA.
The attackers went for the controller, not the compressor. At least some of the affected units used temperature-control kit from Danish firm Danfoss, which was also targeted in France and says it is working with customers on fixes. Reuters’ wider point is the one that matters to us: fridges, heating, cameras and alarms that used to be purely mechanical can now be monitored and controlled remotely, and that cuts both ways.
The UK has not been affected. The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, told The Telegraph it is working with international partners and industry to understand the incident, and says it is not aware of any UK supermarket being hit. So this is not a panic. But whether you run a bakery with one van, a dairy round, a fruit and veg wholesale or a courier job on someone else’s stock, the lesson is the same.
A connected temperature system is only as good as the alarm and the person who answers it. Telling detail: Danfoss told Reuters its own monitoring systems alerted it and it took immediate action. The stores found out when staff turned up. That gap between a scare and a skip full of stock is just whether a phone rang in the small hours and someone acted on it.
Christmas stock-build is starting, and a full chiller or freezer is the worst time to discover your alarm never rang. This week I would find out whether your van fridge, cold room or telematics are internet-connected and who can log in, change any default passwords, check out-of-range alerts go to a phone that is actually answered, and keep a probe thermometer or standalone data logger in the load space as an independent check. Keep your temperature records too; if anything looks odd, treat the stock as suspect, as the supermarkets did.
Quick checklist
- Find out which fridges, cold rooms or telematics are internet-connected, and who can log in
- Change default passwords and ask your installer about software updates
- Make sure out-of-range alarms ring a phone answered overnight, not just a dashboard
- Keep a probe thermometer or standalone data logger in the load space
- Keep temperature records so you can prove stock stayed in range
Also in the news
- On 2 November Musgrave pulled chilled and frozen stock from 13 SuperValu stores as a precaution; systems were back to normal the same day. Source
- Danfoss controllers featured in both the French and Monday’s attacks; British chains reportedly use similar kit, and the NCSC is working with retailers. Source
If Christmas means more stock on the road than your current van can hold cold, these three are worth a look.
- 2024 74 Reg Renault Trafic Blue Dci 2.0 Ll30 Advance L2 H1 Refrigerated Freezer Van: £26,495 +VAT
- 2023 (23 Reg) Ford Transit Custom Refrigerated Chiller Van: £24,995 +VAT
- 2026 Citroën Relay L3H2 Enterprise Refrigerated Freezer Van: £37,495 +VAT
Call us on 01444 245555 to talk it through.
Sources: New Cyberattack on Supermarket Fridges Sweeps Across Europe, New cyberattack on supermarket fridges sweeps across Europe, European supermarket fridges hit with suspected cyber attack, Will UK supermarkets be targeted after fridges in European supermarkets hacked in cyberattack, Fresh wave of fridge cyberattacks hits European supermarkets – France 24, Fridge cyber attack hits supermarkets across Europe – NZ Herald
