Italy Holds Security Talks After European Freezer Cyberattacks
The Commission will assess retailers’ backup systems after attackers forced cooling failures at dozens of stores, with some temperatures reaching 50C, Politico reported.
- The European Commission will assess supermarket cyber readiness after cooling systems failed at dozens of stores across six European Union countries this week, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen announced.
- On Monday, cooling systems at stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia, and the Netherlands reached temperatures up to 50°C, with Belgian company Sabcobel reporting attackers forced refrigeration units into defrost mode.
- Hansen warned that these incidents threaten food supply chains and undermine consumers' "confidence in it," while Intermarch's chief executive noted the damage could cost millions of euros.
- Cabinet chiefs agreed on Friday to convene the Security College, created by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to assess retailer backup arrangements and response capabilities.
- Preventing future attacks will require physical hardware changes and additional investment to secure older refrigeration units, as Hansen emphasized that Europe's food supply chain must evolve against these threats.
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The European Commission has held emergency meetings with relevant security agencies and networks to assess the consequences of the wave of cyberattacks targeting supermarket cooling systems in a number of European Union States, and to explore ways to coordinate a collective response, amid warnings of the expansion of threats to food security and basic services.
Several stores around the country had their freezers adjusted to 50 degrees Celsius overnight into Monday. According to Pontus Johnson, professor of systems engineering, the incident is a reminder of the vulnerability of the digital society. – The worse the security situation, the more important it is to be well prepared.
The wave of cyberattacks against supermarket refrigeration systems continues to spread and, after affecting chains in Portugal this morning, has now affected eight countries. Faced with this scenario, the European Union has defended that they should not be treated as isolated events and that a joint response must be prepared.
Cyberattacks on the refrigerators of grocery retail chains in the European Union are not isolated cases. This was stated by a spokesman for the European Commission after reports of interference in the operation of refrigeration units in several European countries over the past 24 hours. “It is not our job to determine the perpetrator of such acts,” the spokesman said. According to him, the checks are carried out by the affected countries, and it…
Alarm when cooling fails: Connected supermarket shelves are meant to save goods and reduce costs. However, an investigation shows who can also reach the systems.
Radio France Internationale
Italy holds security talks after European freezer cyberattacks
The attacks in recent days, for which no one has claimed responsibility, have prompted the EU to warn of a deliberate attempt to disrupt its food supply chain. EU spokesman Thomas Regnier said EU agencies were also holding meetings on Tuesday with national authorities on "how to best respond to this collectively". "The investigations are currently being carried out by the national authorities, and we are in close contact with them," he said. "Th…
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