The European Union convened two emergency meetings with member states and its interinstitutional task force after a wave of refrigeration cyberattacks spread to 15 European countries, calling the campaign “a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain.” Norway became the latest country to report an incident after a suspected hack at a Havaristen department store overheated freezers and triggered the building’s sprinkler system.
The Norway incident follows confirmed breaches in the UK, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Romania, Germany and Portugal. In the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre said a small number of organizations, including meat processors, had cold stores switched to defrost and heated up to 100F (38C), while supermarket chains such as Sweden’s ICA and Coop and Belgium’s Delhaize and Carrefour were forced to discard spoiled food after overnight temperatures reached 50C.