Second wave of fridge hacks spoils food at supermarkets in Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden

Supermarket refrigerators hacked again

A suspected second wave of cyberattacks has struck supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe, forcing stores in four countries to throw away spoiled food, according to TechCrunch.

The attacks hit dozens of stores in Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden. In each case, intruders manipulated refrigerator settings so the units warmed up — in at least some instances switching into defrost mode — leaving products thawed or otherwise unfit for sale.

Supermarket groups Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt confirmed the breaches overnight, TechCrunch reports. A Belgian company that operates Delhaize's systems told Reuters that the attackers had changed the settings to defrost, forcing stores to discard goods that could no longer be sold or consumed.

A repeat of last month's attacks in France

The new incidents closely resemble a series of hacks in France last month, in which attackers deliberately raised the temperature of refrigeration units at hundreds of supermarkets, destroying large quantities of food.

Security researchers who examined the French attacks traced them to internet-connected refrigerators made by Danfoss, a Danish manufacturer. According to TechCrunch, those units were no longer receiving security updates from the company. The industrial security firm Claroty had warned in August — before the French incidents — that the units were exposed to remote hacking and outages.

TechCrunch describes the latest round as suspected rather than confirmed, and the reporting does not say whether the same equipment or the same attackers are involved in both waves.

Digital intrusions with physical damage

The refrigerator hacks are a reminder that network intrusions are no longer limited to stolen data or encrypted servers. The direct outcome here is tangible: perishable stock destroyed, cold aisles emptied and inventory written off.

TechCrunch points to a wider pattern across the food supply chain. In 2025, a cyberattack on UNFI, a major US food distributor, led to shortages and empty shelves at grocery stores across the United States. Separately, US Department of Defense officials are reportedly investigating whether freezer units on military bases were compromised by Iran-backed hackers — the same actors blamed earlier this year for attacks on US water providers.

Why it matters

The incidents show how operational technology — the connected machinery that keeps shops, factories and utilities running — has become a target in its own right. Refrigerators sit far outside the traditional security perimeter: they are widely deployed, rarely monitored, and in this case apparently no longer patched by their vendor.

The Danfoss angle highlights a structural problem for every industry that runs connected hardware. When a manufacturer stops supporting a product line, the devices keep operating for years while their flaws remain unaddressed. Retailers, who run thousands of such units across hundreds of sites, often have little visibility into whether their refrigerators are patched — or even reachable from the public internet.

The broader trend is also concerning: from emptied grocery shelves in the United States to tampered water utilities, attackers are increasingly causing physical and economic harm rather than seeking ransoms alone. For supermarkets, the cost of these intrusions is measured in destroyed inventory and lost sales rather than negotiation leverage. Expect scrutiny of who is behind the European attacks, and of vendors' obligations to secure aging connected equipment, as investigations continue.