A cyberattack spoils the food of hundreds of supermarkets in France, Belgium and the Netherlands

BarcelonaA cyberattack has affected supermarkets in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, causing multi-million dollar losses due to fresh and frozen products that have spoiled. In the case of France, hackers managed to access the remote control system of the refrigeration systems and launched a rapid defrost program, which caused the establishments' freezers to reach 50 degrees. Consequently, all the products spoiled. In contrast, the impacts in Belgium and the Netherlands were minor.

The president of the French group Les Mousquetaires, Thierry Cotillard, one of those affected and owner of the Intermarché and Netto supermarkets, has estimated that "at least 300" of his stores were affected. The Coopérative U stores report about a hundred affected locations, while Monoprix speaks of about thirty, and Leclerc has not provided any approximate figure. According to some media outlets, the cyberattack has also affected some Carrefour supermarkets.

European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, has called for increased vigilance and asserted that the incident confirms how "the instrumentalization of food has become a reality," while Cotillard describes it as a "catastrophe" that highlights "a vulnerability problem" that threatens "food sovereignty." Cotillard believes the attack may have an economic motive and that the hackers could demand a ransom from the affected companies, but he has not ruled out that it could be "a means of political destabilization." "If France is not supplied by its supermarkets, the people would be hungry, and a hungry people goes to revolution. It would be a catastrophe," predicted the executive, who warned of the threat that a similar attack could happen again.

The French government has opened an investigation, primarily aimed at detecting possible security flaws at the Danish company Danfoss, which is responsible for the refrigeration systems of the affected establishments. Sources from the executive branch have indicated that Paris is in contact with other European Union countries that may have been affected.

Empty shelves

In Belgium and the Netherlands, the cyberattack has affected the Ahold Delhaize and Albert Heijn groups. Specifically, Ahold Delhaize, which is one of the largest food retail and supermarket groups in the world, stated in a press release that its teams are taking "measures to assess and mitigate" a "security issue on its network," which has forced them to "disconnect some systems to protect them."

Albert Heijn's stores have remained open, but the chain's CEO, Margaret Versteden-Van Duijn, noted in statements to the NOS network that "there is a risk of finding empty shelves" this Tuesday due to blockages at distribution centers, especially regarding fresh products. Furthermore, the chain has had to suspend home deliveries.

On the other hand, regarding the Dutch Albert Heijn, its customers have not been able to benefit from discounts and have had problems at self-checkout registers. In both countries, the supermarkets have had to suspend their home delivery services.