Spoiled by design: How supermarkets became targets of cyberattacks

A notice informing customers that refrigerators are temporarily out of service is displayed on an empty refrigerated case at the Delhaize Shop & Go store | Photo Credit: REUTERS When 150 Intermarche stores in France found their refrigeration systems running at 50 degrees Celsius in October, the first question was the usual one: who wants the money?Three weeks later, the same pattern repeated in supermarkets across Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Sweden. Published - November 04, 2026 10:24 am IST