Dutch cooling systems also targeted in a cyberattack

Hackers have attacked the freezing and refrigeration systems of at least seventeen Dutch companies. In doing so, they remotely changed the temperature settings, according to supplier Danfoss.

The affected systems are located at butcher shops, neighborhood stores, and a frozen-food storage facility, among other places. At the storage facility, the temperature was raised from -20 to -10 degrees Celsius. The supplier was able to intervene quickly.

The attack bears similarities to a series of incidents in France, where hackers previously set the cooling systems of several supermarkets to defrost mode. Cooling systems in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Sweden have also been affected in recent days.

According to Danfoss, the Dutch systems attacked last night were not on a secure network and were using a default password. The supplier had already warned customers on October 13 to disconnect their systems from the internet or make them accessible only via a secure connection.

The attacks in the Netherlands did not affect any major supermarket chains. Albert Heijn reports that none of its stores are experiencing problems with their refrigeration systems.