Cyberattack hits several Belgian supermarket chains

This morning, the refrigeration systems at more than 40 Delhaize supermarkets were disrupted by an “IT incident”. Carrefour, Spar and Intermarché have also reported similar problems. Carrefour meanwhile confirmed that its refrigeration systems were indeed disrupted by a cyberattack on its systems.

At around 4 o’clock this morning, Delhaize issued a warning about sudden rises in temperature in its refrigeration systems. Temperatures in the refrigeration systems have been rising, reaching 15 degrees.

Delhaize is working flat out to find a solution. A spokeswoman stated that “they are investigating how they can get the shops up and running again”. The damage could be considerable if everything in the fridges and freezers has to be thrown away.

Which chains and shops have been affected? There is currently no complete list of affected shops. For the time being, these are believed to include:

Around 40 Delhaize shops, including those in Boortmeerbeek, Mechelen-Noord, Hoepertingen and the one on Sint-Paulusstraat in Antwerp. Media outlet RTL Info reports that mainly Shop & Go shops adjacent to Q8 petrol stations, Delhaize Proxy shops, as well as certain Delhaize supermarkets and shops along the motorways have been affected.

15 Carrefour branches in Belgium are also affected.

Around five independently run Spar shops are also hit, according to the Colruyt Group. Colruyt shops themselves are not affected.

The attack seems to be part of an international onslaught with stores affected in Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia.