Cyberattack hits Delhaize supermarket fridges, freezers at dozens of Belgium locations

Freezers and refrigerators at dozens of Delhaize supermarket locations were affected by a cyberattack, Belgian media outlets reported Monday morning. The firm would only say that an “IT incident” affected some of its refrigeration systems.

At least 40 supermarkets were reportedly affected in Belgium. The store brand is owned by Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize, the same parent company of Albert Heijn. A spokesperson for the Albert Heijn supermarket chain in the Netherlands could not immediately indicate whether their stores were also experiencing problems.

The cyberattack may have targeted multiple cooling systems linked to the firm’s Belgium operations either late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Delhaize, as well as butcher shop De Laet & Van Haver, reported that the temperatures of its systems suddenly rose sharply.

Additionally, Carrefour Belgium reported on Monday morning that fifteen of their stores have been affected so far. Swedish media also reported on Monday morning about a possible cyberattack on refrigerators and freezers that affected several branches of the ICA supermarket chain, with temperatures of the ICA cooling systems reportedly rising to 50 degrees Celsius during the overnight hours.

The situation is reminiscent of the large-scale cyberattack on refrigeration systems in French supermarkets last month, which affected hundreds of retail locations where the temperature of the cooling systems shot up during overnight hours. Ahold Delhaize stores were not affected by that attack, but the supermarket giant faced its own significant problems in recent weeks.

A cyberattack last month forced Ahold to shut down a wide range of its information technology systems, affecting supply chain, distribution, and retail operations at Albert Heijn, drug store Etos, alcohol retailer Gall & Gall, and several other brands elsewhere, including in the United States.

Store shelves sat empty, or held a bare minimum of product, as logistics centers ground to a halt, as did home deliveries. The group’s operations only returned to normal last week. Early in the attack, it was forced to disable websites and apps for many of its chains, with the outage continuing for days.

Delhaize operates hundreds of locations in Belgium, including about 130 supermarkets under the Delhaize brand, and over 200 more under the AD Delhaize brand. There are several hundred convenience stores Shop & Go and Proxy Delhaize convenience stores.