Shop freezers in seven European countries hit by cyber-attack

2 November 2026, 11: 21 GMT. Updated 8 minutes ago.

Key points

• In Flanders, northern Belgium, a Delhaize branch in Hoeilaart informed news website Het Laatste Nieuws it had lost €100, 000 (£83, 500) worth of produce.
• While a smaller number of shops were hit in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland, around 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected.
• The temperature of freezers in a number of shops throughout Europe reportedly rose to as high as 50C (122F).
• Seven out of the 800 Coop stores in Sweden were additionally affected but the "situation is currently contained and under control", the business informed the BBC.
• The UK's National Cyber Security Centre remarked it was working with international partners and industry to "fully understand details of an incident".

Dozens of supermarkets throughout seven European countries have been hit by a cyber-attack affecting their refrigerators and freezers.

Sabcobel, a Belgian firm that manufactures some of the affected refrigerators, stated the units' evaporators were switched to defrost mode, causing them to warm up, in what is believed to be the same method applied in last month's incident that hit hundreds of French supermarkets.

Millions of euros worth of food had to be thrown away in October, local media documented at the time.

Stephan Moelans, the CEO of Sabcobel. It operates Delhaize's systems, on Monday informed the Belga news agency that the incident was a cyber-attack and that the business had been "working all night and morning to disconnect the affected units from the network".

He remarked since the French attack in early October, the business had been working to "protect our customers fridges against this vulnerability" but that the units needed physical modifications, not just software updates.

Most supermarkets throughout Europe are linked to the internet, and maintenance and troubleshooting can be done remotely.

"The simplest solution is to manage the fridges over a secure internet connection. Most of our customers switched to that after the attack in France, " Moelans continued.

Notably, the temperature of freezers in a number of shops throughout Europe reportedly rose to as high as 50C (122F). It is unclear who is behind the latest apparent attack.

In the US, authorities are investigating what caused refrigeration malfunctions at a number of American military bases in August and working together with French office-holders to examine whether the incidents could be linked.

Both Belgium and Sweden's national cyber-security agencies remarked they were monitoring the incident.

Meanwhile, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre remarked it was working with international partners and industry to "fully understand details of an incident". No incidents have been documented in the UK.

According to The manager, estimate did not even consider further losses that would result from closing the shop.

Carrefour, a French-owned supermarket, remarked the incident had only affected 15 of its Belgian stores, adding that measures had been taken immediately to ensure all shops remained open.

In practice, a spokesperson for Colruyt Group. It operates Spar stores in Belgium under a franchise system, informed Reuters news agency five shops had their fridge systems attacked.

Sweden's budget furniture retailer Ikea remarked refrigeration systems of its store in the western Belgian city of Mons were affected, with a spokesman quoted by Reuters as saying "we cannot rule out that additional locations may be affected". In Sweden, a number of ICA and Coop shops were hit.

Notably, a spokesperson for ICA confirmed the incident had affected a "small number of ICA stores operating outside ICA's central network".

"ICA is currently supporting the affected stores in managing the situation, " they remarked.

One of the ICA branches located in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, wrote on social media: "Our refrigerators and freezers have been hacked overnight and they have set the temperature to 50 degrees." The store was closed earlier but has now reopened to customers.

Seven out of the 800 Coop stores in Sweden were additionally affected but the "situation is currently contained and under control", the business informed the BBC. In neighbouring Finland, refrigerator malfunctions were detected in some K-stores.

For context, the owner of the supermarket chain Kesko was quoted by Finland's Helsingin Sanomat newspaper as saying its security experts were investigating what caused the difficulty.

Meanwhile, the attack is additionally affecting shops in Ireland, the Netherlands and Estonia.

In Ireland, it impacted 13 SuperValu supermarkets. A spokesman for the owner of the chain, Musgrave Group, confirmed to The Irish Times that a "cyber incident" affected its refrigeration systems, but continued that the impact was limited to a "specific model" of refrigerator.

For context, a spokesperson for Danish manufacturer Danfoss informed Dutch public radio channel NOS that the freezing and cooling systems of at least 17 businesses in the Netherlands were attacked overnight, affecting butcher shops and small neighbourhood stores.

For context, a Selver supermarket in Estonia was additionally affected and there are reports of other affected businesses in the country, according to ERR. Extra reporting by Shiona McCallum. Are you affected by the problems raised in this story?

For now, shop freezers in seven European countries hit by cyber remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.