Finnish supermarkets are investigating refrigeration malfunctions after grocery stores in several European countries experienced disruptions linked to suspected cyberattacks targeting freezer and cooling systems.
The incidents have raised concerns about the security of supermarket refrigeration equipment, following reports that hackers managed to interfere with temperature controls in grocery stores in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and France.
In Sweden, supermarkets operated by the ICA and Coop chains were among those affected. According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, refrigerators and freezers in several stores stopped working, forcing employees to dispose of food that had thawed or could no longer be kept at the required temperatures.
One ICA store owner in Sjöbo told Aftonbladet that the temperature inside the shop’s freezers rose to 50 degrees Celsius following the incident.
Similar problems have been reported elsewhere in Europe. Reuters reported that stores belonging to the Ahold Delhaize supermarket group in Belgium and Luxembourg experienced an “IT incident” that affected their refrigeration and freezer systems. Grocery stores in France also faced comparable disruptions last month, when hackers reportedly interfered with refrigeration equipment.
Finland has now reported a small number of suspected refrigeration disturbances involving individual Kesko-operated stores. However, it has not been established whether these incidents are connected to the attacks reported in other European countries.
One of the affected outlets was Lönkan Herkku, a K-Market store in Helsinki, where some refrigeration units malfunctioned on Sunday night. Store owner Sami Mustonen said the disruption lasted between one and two hours before the equipment was restored. He did not speculate on what caused the malfunction.
Kesko has sought to clarify the scale of the situation, saying the incidents have affected only a small number of stores rather than its wider supermarket network. According to Petri Käyhkö, the company’s Head of Security, the affected refrigeration units were not protected by centralised safeguards. The stores have since taken steps to address the problems.
“We are currently investigating the cause, and we have not yet ruled out that it involves disruptions related to the network,” Käyhkö told Yle.
The possibility of a cybersecurity issue has also drawn attention to how supermarket equipment is connected to the internet. Roni Kokkola, an IT security expert at Finland’s National Cyber Security Centre, said a small proportion of refrigeration units in stores were openly accessible through the public internet.
His comments highlight a potential weakness in the way connected equipment is managed. Devices linked to an organisation’s network can create security risks if they are not properly protected or regularly updated.
“It is really important for organisations to be aware that any devices that may be connected to the network are kept adequately up to date and protected,” Kokkola said.
Although the Finnish incidents have not been confirmed as cyberattacks, the investigation comes at a time when supermarket refrigeration systems have become a target of concern across Europe. For grocery retailers, disruptions to these systems can quickly become a food safety and financial issue, particularly when refrigerated and frozen products can no longer be stored at safe temperatures.
The investigation by Kesko will help establish whether the Finnish malfunctions were isolated technical problems or part of a wider pattern of network-related disruptions affecting grocery retailers.
