Factbox-European retailers hit by supermarket fridge hack

European Retailers Face Cyberattacks on Supermarket Fridge Systems

Overview of Recent Cyberattacks Impacting European Retailers

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Fridges and freezers at more than 100 stores in several European countries were running hot on Monday, with some companies blaming a cyberattack.

These follow a similar incident in France last month that heated refrigeration units to up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), causing fires and spoiling food.

Below are retailers that have reported cyber or IT incidents affecting stores on Monday:

Ahold Delhaize

Incident Details

The Dutch supermarket operator said an overnight "IT incident" affected fridges and freezers at dozens of Delhaize stores in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The chain detected temperature rise in its cooling systems on Monday and is investigating, spokesperson Sarah De Meester said. 

Previous Cybersecurity Incident

Ahold also reported a cybersecurity incident to Dutch police last month after detecting suspicious activity in its infrastructure.

Carrefour

Impact on Belgian Locations

The French retailer said about 15 of its 700 Belgian locations were impacted by refrigeration problems.

Colruyt Group

Franchise Store Attacks

The company, which runs Spar stores in Belgium as franchises, confirmed that five shops in the country had their fridge systems attacked.

Coop

Extent of Disruptions

Swedish Coop said cooling systems at seven of its 800 stores were affected, with disruptions ranging from complete shutdowns to partial operation. It confirmed that the issues were a result of a cyber incident involving unauthorized tampering with the cooling systems. It said Danfoss was among its suppliers.

De Laet & Van Haver

Financial and Product Losses

The Belgian butchery chain's store in Hove, south of Antwerp, found its fridges turned up as high as 18 degree Celsius, ruining about €15,000 ($16,764) worth of meat, founder Luc De Laet said.

ICA

Limited Store Impact

Privately held ICA said a limited number of stores were affected by an overnight incident hitting their refrigeration and freezer systems.

Musgrave

Product Removal and Store Impact

The food wholesaler said a cyber incident had affected refrigeration systems in 13 of its SuperValu stores in Ireland, forcing it to remove some chilled and frozen products from sale.

Exchange Rate Information

($1 = 0.8948 euros)

(Reporting by Ronan Corcoran, editing by Anna Pruchnicka and Shilpi Majumdar)