One hour it is the oil crisis. The next, the protests. Now, cyberattacks. Life has not been easy for Italians.
This time, the problem reached supermarkets. A wave of hacker attacks hit refrigeration systems in several European countries, including Italy, where temperatures in equipment at at least four Coop stores in Sicily were remotely manipulated.
The attacks occurred early Monday morning (2) and compromised food stored in refrigerators and freezers. In Italy, three establishments in Catania and one in Palermo were affected, according to the ANSA news agency.
Incidents were also identified at food-sector companies in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.
Italian government mobilizes intelligence
The seriousness of the situation prompted the government of Giorgia Meloni to call a meeting for Tuesday (3) at Palazzo Chigi in Rome, with representatives of the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) and intelligence services.
According to Giuseppe Spadaro, general director of the Radenza group, which operates Coop supermarkets in Sicily, the intrusion occurred around 4 a.m. The hackers remotely changed the temperature settings of refrigerated display cases, causing losses that are still being assessed.
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Coop clarified that stores directly managed by the chain in Italy were not affected. The cases in Sicily involved stores operated by a franchise company.
The ACN issued an alert to supermarkets, industrial refrigeration operators and food logistics companies, recommending stronger protection of remote-control systems.
In Castelrotto, in the province of Bolzano, another Coop supermarket recorded an abnormal rise in temperatures. The equipment was disconnected from the network and adjusted manually, preventing losses. There is still no confirmation that the incident was caused by hackers.
Attacks hit other European countries
In addition to Italy, supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden reported similar incidents.
In Estonia, equipment recorded temperatures as high as 50°C. In other countries, supermarkets had to discard compromised food.
The episodes occurred about three weeks after similar attacks hit French supermarkets on Oct. 12.
European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen described the attacks as a deliberate attempt to harm the food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence.
He stressed, however, that the European Union’s food supply is not under threat.
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The attacks expose the vulnerability of internet-connected equipment, increasingly used to remotely control supermarket refrigeration.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the intrusions. Italian authorities are investigating the origin of the attacks and their possible connection to the episodes recorded in other European countries.
