- Several Swedish supermarkets saw refrigerator and freezer temperatures soar early Monday, forcing them to throw out spoiled food.
- Ica and Coop reported the problem; Ica said a limited number of stores were affected, Coop said six stores had issues.
- An Ica store in Sjobo posted on Facebook that fridges were hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius.
- Both chains said they have no evidence so far that refrigeration systems were subjected to a cyberattack.
- The incident follows October attacks in France targeting Danfoss refrigeration controls; Danfoss had not responded to AFP on Monday.
A handful of Swedish supermarkets saw temperatures in their refrigerators and freezers soar early Monday, two chains said, forcing them to throw away spoiled food three weeks after a similar incident in France attributed to hackers.
The Swedish chains Ica and Coop told AFP they had no information as yet that their refrigeration systems had been subjected to a cyberattack.
Ica told AFP “a limited number” of it stores had been affected, but did not yet have an exact number.
“We are looking into what has happened and the scale of it,” spokesperson Helena Johansson said, adding that the company was focusing on how to help affected stores.
One of its stores, in Sjobo in southern Sweden, posted on Facebook that its fridges and freezers had “been hacked and they set the temperature at 50 degrees” Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).
The Coop chain said six of its around 800 stores in Sweden had problems with its fridges and freezers and had to throw out food that spoiled or risked being spoiled.
“Fridges and freezers have either stopped working entirely or have been partially impaired,” Coop spokesman Carlos Cancino told AFP.
“I haven’t received any information that this is a cyberattack,” he added.
On October 12, major French retailers said hundreds of stores were hit by a cyberattack on their refrigeration systems, which forced them to throw out food and raised concerns about food security.
In that incident, refrigeration control systems from Danish manufacturer Danfoss were targeted.
Danfoss has not responded to AFP’s request for a comment on Monday.
