It is suspected that the second wave of cyberattacks has affected supermarket freezers across Europe, resulting in increased temperatures in the refrigerators of dozens of stores in Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Sweden, and causing food to spoil.

Supermarket giants Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt confirmed that they were hacked at night. Reuters cited a Belgian company that operates a Delhaize system, stating that the hackers had changed the settings to thaw mode. Affected by the cyberattack, there was a significant loss of food in the stores, and the supermarkets had no choice but to discard the products that had been thawed or were no longer edible.

A month prior to this, a similar incident involving refrigerators occurred in France, where hackers deliberately raised the temperature of the devices, causing hundreds of supermarket foods to spoil. Security researchers indicated that these attacks were due to internet-connected refrigerators manufactured by a Danish company Danfoss, which no longer provides security updates. Security firm Claroty had warned as early as August about the risk of remote intrusion and system downtime associated with these refrigerator devices.

These freezer attacks highlight how cyberattacks can impact the real world, including disrupting the food supply chain, which often stems from weak or neglected cybersecurity measures. In 2025, the food distribution giant UNFI suffered a cyberattack, resulting in food shortages and empty shelves in grocery stores and supermarkets across the United States.

It is reported that officials from the U.S. Department of Defense are investigating whether the freezing equipment at military bases has been compromised by hackers supported by Iran. Earlier this year, cyberattacks against U.S. water supply agencies were also attributed to Iranian hackers.