The EU Will Check Supermarkets' Preparedness Amid Suspicions of Cyberattacks — Politico

The European Commission will assess how well-prepared supermarkets in European Union countries are to withstand cyberattacks. This comes in the wake of widespread malfunctions in refrigeration equipment, which left dozens of stores in at least six EU countries without adequate food cooling.

The European Commission is set to assess the level of cybersecurity among retail chains and their ability to respond to such incidents.

EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christoph Hansen stated that the attacks will be discussed at the next meeting of the Security Board, to evaluate retailers’ emergency plans and their ability to respond to incidents.

“Europe’s food supply chain must be prepared for new and evolving threats,” Hansen said. "Repeated cyberattacks on supermarkets are a cause for deep concern, resulting in economic losses for retailers and empty shelves for consumers."

This announcement came after dozens of supermarkets across Europe reported disruptions to their refrigeration and freezer systems on Monday, November 2.

Incidents were reported in at least six EU countries — Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Estonia — with some retailers reporting that temperatures in refrigerators suddenly spiked to 50 degrees Celsius.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen established the European Commission’s Security College in March 2025 to discuss strategic developments and threats to the EU’s internal and external security.

The latest disruptions followed a series of cyberattacks in France in October, when hackers appeared to have remotely manipulated refrigeration systems by activating their defrost mechanisms, leading to a sharp rise in temperature and the spoilage of food.

In October, European Commission officials responsible for agriculture met with retailers affected by the cyberattacks to assess the situation as part of the EU’s efforts to ensure food security and preparedness in the event of emergencies. “We must work at all levels to strengthen our preparedness and resilience,” Hansen said.

The EU commissioner emphasized that Europe’s food security is not at risk, but warned that these incidents have exposed vulnerabilities in the food supply chain that will have consequences for businesses, food waste, and consumer confidence.

“This is a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence in it—a warning we must take seriously,” Hansen said.

This was reported with reference to Politico.

The EU has acknowledged for the first time that cyberattacks targeted the messaging accounts of high-ranking officials.

As a reminder, the Norwegian Agency for Digitalization has been under a large-scale cyberattack for three days, described as one of the largest in the country in recent months. Cybersecurity experts are working to restore stable system operations and identify the source of the attack.

In Latvia, as a result of a cyberattack on the Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD), attackers obtained personal data affecting 1.2 million people. The CSDD reported this on August 18, according to LSM English.