GENERAL
Cyberattack reportedly hits supermarkets in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, disrupting fridges and shelf prices
Supermarket chains in France and the Netherlands say a cyberattack has disrupted refrigeration controls, online systems and electronic price labels. Reports say Belgium's Delhaize is also affected, and it is not yet clear whether the incidents are linked.
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A cyberattack has reportedly hit supermarket chains across Europe, disrupting fridge controls, deliveries and shelf prices. France, Belgium and the Netherlands are said to be affected.
In France, La Dépêche reports that "several" major retailers were targeted. The attack reportedly hit refrigeration controls made by Danfoss, which are used by Intermarché, Leclerc and Coopérative U.
The president of Coopérative U, Dominique Schelcher, confirmed the problem on Monday morning. He said: "A cyberattack has been affecting the refrigeration production facilities of several stores in our network since last night." He said teams had been mobilized to fix the issue, promised an investigation, and called the incident "extremely serious."
According to the report, the fridges' automatic defrosting was switched on and then set to run non-stop. Normally this function runs for only about two hours a day. Hackers are said to have set it to a forced, continuous cycle at 50 degrees Celsius. Sources described "a wave of heat" coming out of fridges and freezers.
Early reports put the losses at close to 300,000 euros. They could reach several million euros across the country.
In the Netherlands, NOS reports that several supermarket chains were hit by a malfunction linked to a cybersecurity incident on Sunday afternoon. Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall had their websites taken down, which affected deliveries. Electronic shelf labels, the digital price tags on store shelves, were also compromised, so in-store pricing was disrupted.
Albert Heijn said in a statement: "We have immediately taken measures to protect our IT environment. Part of this involves the preventive temporary shutdown of a number of systems."
Belgium's Delhaize chain, which belongs to Albert Heijn, has also reported disruption. Images online show stores in Amsterdam warning customers about price problems. Loyalty programs have also been suspended because of the incident.
It is unclear at this stage whether the French and Dutch attacks are related, or how widespread either of them is.