Cyberattacks and bomb threats disrupt European supermarkets, flights and media outlets

Cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration

Hackers remotely manipulated refrigeration systems at supermarkets across Europe last week, forcing retailers to discard spoiled food. On Monday, supermarkets in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands found that refrigeration systems had been set to as much as 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit, affecting retailers including Ahold Delhaize, IKEA, Colruyt Group and Carrefour. It followed an October cyberattack that targeted hundreds of French supermarkets, causing fires, fridges to overheat and food to spoil. French blood-bank refrigeration systems were subsequently targeted in what appeared to be a similar incident.

Fredrik Blix, cybersecurity expert at Visente and associate professor at Stockholm University, told CNBC that the supermarket attacks required very little technical sophistication since vulnerable refrigeration control systems were connected directly to the public internet. "These attacks, they don’t really require any specific advanced knowledge to carry out," he said, adding that some systems were protected only by default passwords or easily guessed credentials.

Bomb threats disrupt flights and media outlets

A wave of suspected hoax bomb threats disrupted dozens of flights across the continent, forcing diversions and, in some cases, fighter jet escorts. According to CNN, at least 14 flights were affected by similar threats on Thursday, November 5, while additional warnings involving Copenhagen and Prague airports emerged on Friday. Hungary's defense minister confirmed that fighter jets escorted three aircraft in Hungarian airspace after threats were reported on Friday morning. Dutch authorities told national broadcaster NOS that a KLM flight traveling from Prague to Amsterdam was searched upon landing, but investigators found no explosives.

The incidents culminated with bomb threats targeting European news outlets, including the U.K.'s Sky News and Irish public broadcaster RTÉ. RTÉ employees, television and radio presenters, and children attending an on-site crèche were evacuated from the broadcaster's Donnybrook campus after an emailed threat. Gardaí, Ireland's national police, deployed officers and sniffer dogs to search the buildings before declaring the premises safe and allowing staff to return.

RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said: "On the basis of the information we had, we decided that we wanted to put the safety of the staff first and evacuate the buildings." He also said: "It's a disgraceful attack on the media, on free media, and unfortunately, probably where it comes from, they don't really appreciate the importance of free media."

Authorities investigate possible connections

Authorities have not established who was behind the attacks or whether they were connected. The European Union has said it is too early to establish whether the incidents are connected. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the government was treating the incidents as a serious security matter and coordinating with national and European agencies. "It is worrying and we take the threat seriously," Martin told RTÉ Radio One.

Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, said if Russia were responsible, such attacks could be intended to demonstrate the costs of Europe's continued support for Ukraine. "I think it’s more about cost imposition," Kaushal told CNBC. "Convincing the European political leadership that the costs of a war can come home to them." Russia didn’t immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

All threats investigated so far have proved false, with authorities reporting no explosives discovered. Nevertheless, airport searches, flight disruptions and the evacuation of media facilities have affected travelers, employees and public services across Europe.

Sources

• cnbc.com: Europe security threats: Cyberattacks, sabotage and unrest
• demokratis.co.id: European Bomb Threats Spread From Flights to Media Outlets

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.