Refrigeration systems in 13 SuperValu stores affected by cyber attack

A suspected cyber attack has affected refrigeration systems in 13 SuperValu stores, leading to food being thrown out.

On Monday a spokesperson for Musgrave, which owns the Irish supermarket chain, said the suspected attack was limited to a specific model of refrigeration.

They said: “Our monitoring systems alerted us to the issue and we took immediate action.

“As a precaution, chilled and frozen products in the affected stores have been removed from sale, and all other products remain available as normal.

“Customer safety is our first priority, and customers can be confident that products on sale in our stores have been stored at safe temperatures.”

They said that as of 3pm on Monday, they were working to replace the chilled and frozen food that was binned, “to ensure customers can get everything they need as quickly as possible”.

The spokesperson said that an investigation was launched by Musgrave and the cyber incident was “fully resolved, and all stores are now operating as normal”.

“We are working closely with the suppliers of the affected refrigeration equipment and with cybersecurity specialists to resolve the issue and restore normal operations as quickly as possible,” they said.

Refrigeration systems have reportedly also been attacked in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia.

According to the Belga news agency, dozens of stores across Belgium and ​Luxembourg operated by Ahold Delhaize had their fridges and freezers hit by a cyber attack.

There was a similar cyber attack on French supermarkets last month.