MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. More than ten European countries have reported hacker attacks on commercial refrigeration systems in supermarkets.
Attackers remotely activated the defrost mode, leading to the mass spoilage of food products, with the preliminary amount of damages estimated in the tens of millions of euros.
The incident occurred in most countries on the night of November 2 and affected supermarkets in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Estonia. On the morning of November 3, reports appeared that similar attacks were recorded in at least three more European countries, Germany, Italy, and Denmark. In October 2026, similar cases were observed in France.
In Germany, supermarkets of the Edeka and CAP chains reported hacker attacks on their refrigeration systems. The press services of both companies confirmed the incident, noting that the attacks affected stores in the federal states of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.
At least three retail outlets in Italy’s Catania and one in Palermo reported the defrosting of their refrigerators, the newspaper Il Messaggero said. In Portugal, seven supermarkets of the Intermarche chain were affected, the newspaper El Observador wrote. Furthermore, five companies in Denmark saod that they recorded a hacker attack on their refrigeration equipment. Their names are not being disclosed yet for security reasons, The Copenhagen Post.