STOCKHOLM — Grocery store operators ICA and Coop reported that temperatures in freezers and refrigerators at several Swedish locations rose sharply overnight on Monday, with at least one store pointing to a suspected cyberattack.
According to social media posts from an affected Swedish store, refrigeration settings had been pushed up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). Privately held retail group ICA stated via email that a limited number of its stores experienced overnight disruptions affecting their cooling systems. Meanwhile, rival grocery group Coop informed the Aftonbladet daily that six of its outlets faced similar incidents, though Coop did not immediately respond to further requests for comment.
The overnight incidents in Sweden follow a large-scale attack reported by French police last month, in which hackers seized control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets, resulting in food losses, fires, and renewed scrutiny over the security vulnerabilities of connected commercial systems.
