Cyberattacks spoil supermarket fridges across Ireland, Belgium and Sweden
Hackers manipulated internet-connected fridge controllers at Supervalu, Carrefour, Ikea, Ica and Coop stores, forcing food to be pulled from shelves.
What to know
- A spate of cyberattacks has hit supermarket refrigeration systems across Ireland, Sweden and Belgium within 24 hours, following an earlier attack on 700 French stores last month that caused fires and food losses.
- Supervalu pulled chilled and frozen food from 13 Irish stores as a precaution after Musgrave Group confirmed a cyber incident limited to a specific refrigerator model; the bill is expected to run to thousands of euro.
- Attackers appear to exploit centralised, internet-connected fridge controllers used by contractors to remotely monitor temperatures, triggering prolonged defrost cycles that overheat units.
- It is not yet confirmed whether the Irish, Swedish and Belgian incidents are linked; the EU Commission says food security is part of overall security and cites the Cyber Resilience Act, Cyber Solidarity Act and NIS2 as response tools.
“In some cases, it involved only a single refrigerator, so the impact was quite limited,”
Intermarché spokesman, Company spokesperson · RTÉ News ↗ · Nov 1
Musgrave Group Owner of SupervaluCarrefour Belgium Affected retailerIkea Belgium Affected retailerChristophe Hanson EU Agriculture and Food CommissionerIntermarché Affected French retailer
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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EU Commission calls food security part of security
A spokesperson for EU Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hanson said the Commission is aware of the incidents and pointed to the Cyber Resilience Act, Cyber Solidarity Act and NIS2 as tools to strengthen cybersecurity across the union.
“The empty shelves in the supermarkets targeted are very telling in that regard. We are aware of these incidents,…”
— Spokesperson for Commissioner Christophe Hanson -
first by RTE News, 6d ago · also Silicon Republic, RTÉ, The Irish Times
4 more headlines
- 13 SuperValu stores hit in suspected cyberattack Silicon Republic · 6d ago
- SuperValu pulls chilled and frozen food from sale in 13 stores after cyberattack TheJournal.ie · 6d ago
- Refrigeration systems at 13 SuperValu stores hit by suspected cyber attack RTÉ · 6d ago
- Supervalu removes frozen and chilled food from shelves at 13 stores after cyberattack on fridges The Irish Times · 6d ago
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Super Intelligence...meets...Super Market this is "less" about (East vs West) AND more about Penthouse vs Populous. Mentioned Thanksgiving and I got a "sideways glance." It was my first realization of my own stupidity. I'm Sorry. Christmas will be a simple candle. https://www. rte.ie/news/business/2026/1102…
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background
Supervalu pulls chilled and frozen food from 13 Irish stores — Musgrave Group confirmed a cyber incident affected its refrigeration systems, limited to a specific model of fridge; stock in Lucan, Blanchardstown, Waterford, Bray and other locations was removed as a precaution, with some stores delaying opening.
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background
Fridges overheat at supermarkets in Sweden and Belgium — Freezers at Ica and Coop in Sweden reached as high as 55°C, while Carrefour Belgium, Ahold Delhaize, Colruyt, Intermarché and an Ikea store in Mons reported fridge and freezer temperature spikes overnight, with several chains confirming cyberattacks.
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background
Hackers hit fridges in hundreds of French supermarkets — A cyberattack on centralised, internet-connected fridge controllers caused refrigerators and freezers in roughly 700 stores belonging to Intermarché, Coopérative and Carrefour to overheat, causing fires and food losses.