Coop

Summary

Swedish supermarket chain Coop experienced refrigeration and freezer failures at seven stores after hackers raised temperatures through connected equipment running on old 4G networks, though normal operations later resumed. The intrusion was part of a wider European campaign targeting grocery cold-storage systems that spoiled tonnes of food across multiple nations, including Italian locations where thousands of euros in losses forced stores to discard inventory and left shelves empty. The operator has since accelerated a transition of its refrigeration controllers to 5G networks and modern modems to reduce exposure.

Motives

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TTPs

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Description

The incident reached Coop supermarkets in Sicily, where Giuseppe Spadaro, director of a group operating the chain on the island, reported that four of its 300 stores were affected by the cyberattacks. The attacks targeted refrigeration systems, resulting in damage amounting to thousands of euros. Spadaro stated that the affected stores had to throw away everything and that the shelves were empty. Italy recorded about 20 affected supermarkets in total during the wave of incidents. The Italian government convened talks with the heads of the intelligence services and the National Cybersecurity Agency on Tuesday following the attacks. The office of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the incident’s impact as limited and stated that there was no cause for alarm, while noting that all relevant institutional bodies remained on high alert.

In Sweden, the supermarket chain Coop reported that refrigerators and freezers at seven of its stores were affected overnight during the same hacking spree. The affected refrigeration equipment had been connected to old 4G networks. The stores subsequently resumed normal operations. Coop accelerated an upgrade, which had begun after the October attacks, to move its connected refrigeration equipment onto 5G networks and modern modems. A chain spokesperson, Carlos Cancinos, provided details on the network transition.

Hackers raised the temperatures of refrigeration systems at supermarkets in Germany, Romania, and the United Kingdom during Monday’s cyberattacks, bringing the number of affected European countries to at least 11. Officials announced the incidents on Tuesday as the European Union promised a collective response, warning that the attacks were not isolated and had spoiled tonnes of food across the continent. The motive remained unknown, and no group claimed responsibility. Problems were reported in at least nine EU countries on Monday, including Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden. On Tuesday, officials and company representatives said four supermarkets in Germany and six in Romania were affected. The United Kingdom, which is not part of the EU, was also hit.

Belgium was among the hardest-hit countries on Monday, with dozens of stores across several grocery chains reporting refrigeration failures, and federal prosecutors there opened an investigation. The second wave of attacks mirrored a cyberattack that swept hundreds of supermarkets across France in October and also affected stores in several other European countries. In the United Kingdom, hackers attempted to target small meat-processing firms, though the impact was minimal, and the National Cyber Security Centre noted that the issue affected the whole food supply chain with a couple of instances where vulnerable technology had been exploited. French authorities reported on Wednesday that cold storage units in at least three blood banks had also been hacked, with temperature and defrost thresholds set to excessively high levels. The French Blood Establishment stated that monitoring and alarm systems enabled rapid identification of the anomalies and that the affected equipment was brought under control, with blood products moved to other facilities and no patients adversely affected.

Sources

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