European retailers hit by supermarket fridge hack

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Fridges and freezers at more than 100 stores in several European countries were running hot on Monday, with some companies blaming a cyberattack.

These follow a similar incident in France last month that heated refrigeration units to up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), causing fires and spoiling food.

Below are retailers that have reported cyber or IT incidents affecting stores on Monday:

AHOLD DELHAIZE AD.AS

The Dutch supermarket operator said an overnight "IT incident" affected fridges and freezers at dozens of Delhaize stores in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The chain detected temperature rise in its cooling systems on Monday and is investigating, spokesperson Sarah De Meester said.

Ahold also reported a cybersecurity incident to Dutch police last month after detecting suspicious activity in its infrastructure.

CARREFOUR CARR.PA

The French retailer said about 15 of its 700 Belgian locations were impacted by refrigeration problems.

COLRUYT GROUP COLR.BR

The company, which runs Spar stores in Belgium as franchises, confirmed that five shops in the country had their fridge systems attacked.

COOP

Swedish Coop said cooling systems at seven of its 800 stores were affected, with disruptions ranging from complete shutdowns to partial operation. It confirmed that the issues were a result of a cyber incident involving unauthorized tampering with the cooling systems. It said Danfoss was among its suppliers.

IKEA

Swedish budget furniture retailer IKEA said one store in Mons, Belgium, had been affected by a cyberattack on refrigeration control systems.

DE LAET & VAN HAVER

The Belgian butchery chain's store in Hove, south of Antwerp, found its fridges turned up as high as 18 degree Celsius, ruining about €15,000 ($16,764) worth of meat, founder Luc De Laet said.

ICA

Privately held ICA said a limited number of stores were affected by an overnight incident hitting their refrigeration and freezer systems.

MUSGRAVE

The food wholesaler said a cyber incident had affected refrigeration systems in 13 of its SuperValu stores in Ireland, forcing it to remove some chilled and frozen products from sale.

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