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10/11/2026
By Carlos Fernandes, from Ongrace
COMPARTILHE
A wave of cyberattacks swept across Europe last week, raising uncertainty and fears. Several countries have experienced significant losses of goods in supermarkets and retail outlets after freezers were remotely shut down, causing millions in financial damages. The sabotage targeting the food supply chain has alarmed Europeans, who still do not know who is behind the attacks or what motivated them.
France was the first target. On October 13, hackers managed to manipulate devices responsible for keeping refrigerators and cold storage facilities operational, destroying tons of perishable products. In some cases, refrigeration units were heated to temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), causing equipment failures. In the following weeks, seven other European countries, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg, experienced similar incidents.
The international supermarket chain Carrefour alone had 15 stores affected in Belgium. There is no longer any doubt that the successive incidents were part of a coordinated attack. On November 2, other wholesale chains in several countries were targeted almost simultaneously. In the days that followed, supermarkets in Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom also experienced criminal remote increases in the temperatures of their refrigerated sections, affecting meat and meat products, seafood and various items requiring frozen storage.
Nearly all the attacks occurred overnight, making emergency response measures more difficult. The escalation of cyberattacks prompted the European Union to issue a warning about a possible deliberate attempt to destabilize the bloc by targeting a sector of particular concern to the public. Residents in numerous countries have already begun stockpiling food. So far, no organization, group or individual has claimed responsibility for the breaches.
In an interview with AFP, European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the institution remains in contact with national authorities to establish a coordinated response. “These are not isolated incidents, and naturally, we need to be collectively prepared and resilient in the face of this type of cyber incident.” One of the immediate measures is to implement a program to modernize refrigeration control systems, making them less vulnerable. “These incidents demonstrate once again how cyberattacks can disrupt essential services and affect citizens’ daily lives,” the official emphasized.
