Outrage in Europe as Supermarket Refrigerators Hack Hits Again

[Anchor]

Last month, refrigerators at large supermarkets in France were hacked, sending internal temperatures soaring up to 50°C (122°F). Now, the exact same thing has happened in Belgium and Sweden, forcing stores to throw away all their food. Questions are growing over why these seemingly pointless attacks keep happening.

Here is correspondent Kwon Yeongin reporting from Paris.

[Reporter]

A refrigerated display case in a supermarket stands completely empty.

At another store, products that can no longer be kept refrigerated are being thrown out as trash.

On the 2nd local time, hypermarkets and supermarket chains came under cyberattacks in various parts of Europe, including Belgium.

As a result, temperature control systems for refrigeration and freezing facilities malfunctioned, causing temperatures to spike.

[Mathieu Tillman / Supermarket Manager: I simply cannot understand why anyone would do this. With so many people still struggling with food shortages, having to throw food away like this...] (Translate audio)

Dozens of stores belonging to Delhaize, a supermarket chain operating in Belgium and Luxembourg, suffered damages, and the same issue reportedly occurred at 15 out of 700 Carrefour stores in Belgium.

An IKEA store in southern Belgium was also targeted, leading to a decision to discard some refrigerated food items in its food market.

Foreign media outlets reported that at least seven European countries, including Sweden, Ireland, and Estonia, suffered disruptions to refrigeration and freezing facilities due to similar hacking attacks.

Last month in France, a cyberattack raised supermarket refrigerator temperatures to 50°C (122°F), causing mass damage to 700 locations.

It was confirmed to be the result of an external attack, and while authorities are investigating, the culprit has yet to be found.

In less than a month, similar damage has occurred once again across various parts of Europe.

Experts suggest that given the lack of financial demands and the focus on disrupting operations, these consecutive cyberattacks on refrigeration facilities are highly likely to be state-sponsored or organized state-level activities.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.