Cyberattacks target refrigeration systems in European supermarkets

On November 2, 2026, supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium, and Luxembourg reported widespread malfunctions in their refrigeration and freezer systems. In several instances, the temperature inside these units surged to 50 degrees Celsius, resulting in the destruction of perishable goods and the forced disposal of products. Store operators suspect that remote cyberattacks are responsible for the malfunctions, citing significant similarities to incidents that occurred in France throughout October.

Swedish chains ICA and Coop confirmed that a limited number of their locations were affected overnight. While one Swedish store explicitly linked the temperature spike to a cyberattack via social media, official confirmation regarding the technical source of the breaches is pending. Cybersecurity authorities are currently monitoring the situation, but it remains unverified whether these new incidents utilize the same vulnerabilities as the earlier French attacks, which successfully compromised hundreds of remote cooling units.

The investigations remain ongoing as authorities assess the scale of the damage across the affected European nations. As of now, stores are managing product withdrawals while security teams examine how unauthorized access was gained to the interconnected cooling infrastructure.