Fridges and freezers at supermarkets in seven European countries hit by suspected cyber-attack

A new wave of suspected cyber-attacks on Monday disrupted refrigerators and freezers at supermarkets in seven European countries, raising temperatures and forcing stores to discard spoiled food. Countries named include Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Estonia. Around 40 Delhaize stores in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, along with 13 SuperValu shops in Ireland and several ICA and Coop stores in Sweden. One ICA store said its freezers were set to 50C (122F). Carrefour said 15 Belgian stores were hit, and Colruyt said five Spar shops were. A Delhaize branch in Hoeilaart said it lost €100,000 of produce. The CEO of refrigeration firm Sabcobel said evaporators were switched to defrost mode. No one has claimed responsibility, and authorities have not named a culprit. The incident follows an attack in France last month on hundreds of supermarkets, which police said caused fires and food losses. The EU condemned a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain, and Belgian and Swedish cyber-security agencies said they were monitoring.

Just the News, the right-leaning outlet, gives the shortest account. It relies on Reuters and opens with a Stockholm sales manager who said the attack came around 2 a.m. and went unnoticed for hours. It names only Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden and stresses discarded food and the French precedent. It leaves out the EU response and any theories about who is responsible. The Guardian and NBC News, on the left, cover more countries and more voices. The Guardian asks who is behind the attacks and quotes Sophos analyst Rafe Pilling, who said a state-linked actor or a lone hacker is most plausible. NBC adds the European Commission's comment, the Ukraine war context and company statements. Both sides agree on the timing, the spoiled food, the French precedent and the lack of any claim. BBC News adds store-level loss figures.