In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (back C) chairs a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects at the Kremlin in Moscow on August 19, 2026.
Photo by Gavriil GRIGOROV / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
The BriefingHackers gained remote access to refrigeration controllers at nearly 100 supermarkets across at least 11 European countries on November 2, raising freezer temperatures to around 55°C and destroying millions of euros in food.Two pro-Russian hacker groups, NoName057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance, claimed responsibility on Telegram, publishing what they said were 2,500 lines of stolen data from Danish refrigeration supplier Danfoss.The Kremlin denied any involvement, calling the accusations “absurd,” even as Belgium’s federal prosecutors opened a formal investigation and the EU urged immediate corrective action across the bloc.The Russian government on Thursday rejected as groundless any suggestion that Moscow had a hand in the widening wave of cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe, even as the European Union warned the incidents represent a deliberate effort to disrupt the continent’s food supply chain.Moscow Calls the Accusations ‘Absurd’Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov characterized the accusations as “absurd,” telling reporters the allegations had no argumentation or proof behind them. He added that implicating Russia in every incident on the continent had become, in his words, a persistent trend in European countries.The denial carries particular weight given that two hacker groups linked to Russian military intelligence — NoName057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance — had already published claims of responsibility on Telegram, along with what they asserted were thousands of lines of data from a database belonging to Danish refrigeration technology supplier Danfoss, including login credentials. Analysts cautioned, however, that such claims do not automatically establish actual authorship.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov uses a smartphone as he attends a meeting of Russia’s President on December 12, 2025.
Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Stores From Stockholm to Lisbon Caught in the CrosshairsThe attacks unfolded overnight into Monday, November 2, when refrigeration and freezer units at dozens of stores were remotely compromised. Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden all reported failures that forced some retailers to discard food after overnight temperature spikes.Unknown hackers gained remote access to cooling systems in nearly 100 stores across at least 11 countries, switching freezer units into defrost mode and driving temperatures to as high as 55 degrees Celsius — conditions that rendered frozen goods worth millions of euros unsalvageable.The Danfoss Connection: One Supplier, Two AttacksAmong the hardest-hit retailers was the Ahold Delhaize group, with roughly 40 of its Belgian and Luxembourg stores affected. Belgian refrigeration contractor Sabcobel, which manages cooling systems for the Delhaize chain, confirmed that evaporators across its network were remotely switched into defrost mode. Chief executive Stephan Moelans told AFP that his company’s swift intervention likely contained what could have been far greater damage.Other major chains were also caught in the attack. Musgrave, the owner of SuperValu in Ireland, reported 13 affected stores. Carrefour Belgium described disruption at around 15 of its locations, with a company spokesperson stating plainly: “It’s a cyberattack, there is no other reason.” Coop and ICA in Sweden were also hit, along with Edeka stores in Germany.Investigators identified a common thread running through the incidents: Danfoss AK-SM and AK-SC refrigeration controller hardware, the same equipment exploited in the mid-October attack on French retailers. Cybersecurity specialists believe attackers exploited known weaknesses in internet-connected refrigeration controllers that allowed them to manipulate temperatures remotely — a vulnerability that had been publicly disclosed by researchers as early as August 2026, months before it was weaponized.From Frozen Aisles to Blood BanksThe scope of the attacks extended beyond grocery retail. France’s national blood service, the Établissement français du sang, confirmed that a cyberattack struck the systems of its refrigeration equipment provider, Coolworld, on the same night as the supermarket incidents — affecting cold-storage chambers at three of its facilities, where plasma is stored before distribution to hospitals. Hackers reportedly attempted to push storage temperatures to 110 degrees Celsius. On-duty technicians detected the temperature rise in time, and authorities confirmed no blood products were lost or destroyed.
Brussels Opens an Investigation; Washington Issues WarningsThe European Commission and the EU’s cybersecurity agency said they were closely monitoring the attacks and urged organizations across the bloc to take immediate corrective action on any exposed systems. The Commission stopped short of formally attributing responsibility to any state actor, deferring to national law enforcement. Belgium’s federal prosecutors opened a formal investigation into the incidents, and EU officials signaled that cross-border coordination among member states’ security services would intensify in the weeks ahead.The alarm reached beyond EU borders. US authorities warned of an ongoing threat to industrial refrigeration systems, urging businesses to strengthen cybersecurity measures, install available software updates, and restrict public internet access to temperature controls. In the United Kingdom, three meat suppliers were also targeted through vulnerabilities in their refrigeration control systems, though no stock losses were reported.A Pattern Moscow Has Consistently DeniedThe October attack that struck mid-month had already hit hundreds of supermarkets in France, where refrigeration equipment was similarly compromised in what French authorities called an unprecedented incident. Investigators have not formally established whether the two waves are connected, but the incidents are unfolding as European governments increasingly document what they describe as a Russian hybrid warfare campaign against civilian infrastructure — something Moscow has denied every time it has been raised.Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western governments have repeatedly accused Russian-linked actors of conducting cyberattacks against European infrastructure targets. Moscow has denied every one of them. Thursday’s statement from Peskov followed that pattern exactly.© {{Year}} Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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