BRUSSELS, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Belgium's federal prosecutor's office has opened a criminal investigation into a cyberattack that hit refrigeration systems at supermarkets early Monday, a spokesperson confirmed to local media.
At least 76 supermarkets and other retail outlets across Belgium had reported problems with their refrigeration systems as of Monday afternoon, according to a Belgian media tally. Stores in both Flanders and Wallonia were affected.
Swedish furniture retailer IKEA said fridges and freezers at its store in the southern Belgian city of Mons had been hit by a cyber incident overnight, but it could not rule out that additional locations may be affected. The incident had a limited impact on the store's restaurant and Swedish Food Market. The store remained open on Monday, while staff carried out precautionary checks on refrigeration systems at other Belgian locations.
Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize reported an "IT incident" affecting refrigeration systems at around 40 stores. Carrefour Belgium said about 15 of its more than 700 stores were slightly affected, mainly in frozen food sections, while five Spar stores and around 15 Intermarche outlets also reported problems.
Some stores brought in refrigerated trucks to preserve food products, while others removed potentially affected items from sale, according to local media.
Stephan Moelans, CEO of Belgian refrigeration company Sabcobel, said the attack used the same method as the cyberattack in France in October, with hackers remotely activating the defrost mode of refrigeration systems and causing temperatures to rise. He said some stores had to discard fresh and frozen food and that losses could reach tens of thousands of euros per store if the cold chain was disrupted for too long.
Belgian supermarket chains had been strengthening cybersecurity since the attack in France, Moelans said, but some refrigeration systems required hardware modifications, as software updates alone were not enough.
Similar incidents were also reported in several other European countries, including the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Sweden, Estonia and Finland, with some retailers forced to discard affected food products.
The European Commission said on Monday that the incidents showed how cyberattacks could disrupt services, affect businesses and directly impact citizens' daily lives, adding that it would continue working with member states to strengthen cybersecurity across the bloc.
