EU Urges Joint Response as Supermarket Cyberattacks Spread to Germany, Romania and UK

Hackers raised the temperatures of refrigeration systems at supermarkets in Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom on Monday, extending a wave of cyberattacks that has now affected at least 11 European countries and spoiled tonnes of food.

The European Union on Tuesday promised a collective response, with spokesperson Thomas Regnier telling journalists that the incidents were "not isolated" and that bloc agencies were working with national authorities.

No group has claimed responsibility, and a senior Romanian cybersecurity official played down the threat. Dan Cimpean, director of Romania's National Cyber Security Directorate, called the attacks "semi-amateurish" and said he did not suspect a state actor, according to AFP.

Belgium was among the hardest hit on Monday, with dozens of stores across several grocery chains reporting refrigeration failures; federal prosecutors have opened an investigation. In Italy, around 20 supermarkets were affected, including four Coop stores in Sicily. Giuseppe Spadaro, a director of the group that runs those stores, told Corriere della Sera that thousands of euros of goods had to be thrown away, leaving shelves empty.

In the UK, the impact was minimal, with hackers attempting to target small meat-processing firms, according to Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre. He told the BBC the issue affected "the whole food supply chain".

The attacks mirror a similar incident in October that swept hundreds of supermarkets in France. Sweden's Coop chain said seven of its stores were affected overnight but have since resumed normal operations; the affected refrigerators were connected to old 4G networks, and the company is accelerating an upgrade to 5G. Danfoss, a Danish maker of refrigeration controls whose systems were targeted, recommended that such equipment not be directly accessible from the internet. Cybersecurity experts advised retailers to disconnect vulnerable controllers until they are patched.