Police in Germany are investigating suspected cyberattacks on refrigeration systems at supermarkets and food businesses in several regions. In reported cases, temperatures were allegedly raised remotely, causing food to spoil and be thrown away. Authorities have not identified who was behind the incidents.
The cases were reported in Wuppertal, Wetter-Volmarstein, the Münsterland, Lower Bavaria and the West Palatinate. In Lilienthal, near Bremen, a supermarket’s service counters, cold rooms and freezers failed overnight. Its owner, Daniel Breiding, said the store had to discard goods worth more than €360,000. The equipment reportedly reached 30 degrees Celsius; in Reisbach, Lower Bavaria, temperatures rose to 50 degrees.
Police said refrigeration equipment was also suspected of being disabled at a food-processing business and a supermarket in the West Palatinate districts of Kaiserslautern and Kusel. In Wuppertal, spoiled goods were discovered on Monday morning after an incident over the weekend. A store in Raesfeld, in the Münsterland, also lost refrigeration, with investigators examining whether a cyberattack was responsible.
A supermarket operated by the Workers’ Welfare Association in Wetter-Volmarstein was among the affected businesses. The suspected attack targeted the company that remotely maintains its refrigeration systems, according to the organization, and large quantities of food had to be discarded.
The reports come amid similar incidents in several European countries. A Belgian refrigeration-services provider said equipment had been switched remotely into defrost mode. In October, a large attack targeting a technology service provider affected stores belonging to several major French grocery chains, with the Paris prosecutor’s cybercrime unit taking charge of that investigation.
The European Commission convened an initial crisis meeting involving the EU cybersecurity agency ENISA, Europol and Commission experts, and activated the European cyber-crisis network. EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen described the incidents as an effort to disrupt food supplies and undermine consumer confidence, while saying supply security was not currently at risk. National authorities are handling the investigations, and the Commission is in contact with them.
Sources: Handelsblatt.