Britain on alert as hackers shut down supermarket fridges across Europe
Tesco and Sainsbury's are said to rely on similar equipment
TL;DR
- Hackers targeted dozens of supermarket fridges in Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Estonia.
- Food was spoiled by raising temperatures to as high as 50 degrees Celsius.
- Belgian chain Delhaize reported over £83,500 in inedible food at one store.
- Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is preparing retailers for potential attacks.
- Hundreds of French grocers experienced similar fridge outages last month, with significant financial losses.
- Major British chains like Tesco and Sainsbury's reportedly use similar equipment.
- The cyberattacks are seen as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain.
- Retailers are considered an easy target, and the attacks may be politically motivated.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) could increase the sophistication and rate of future cyber-attacks.
- No group has publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks.