Britain's cyber chief confirms hackers have exploited UK food suppliers' freezers after a wave of attacks on European supermarkets
Empty refrigerated counters inside an Auchan supermarket in Olsztyn, Poland, as Sweden's national cyber-security centre confirmed it was working multiple cases simultaneously following the overnight attacks.Seven European countries were struck overnight by hackers who remotely cranked supermarket freezer temperatures to 50C, following an almost identical attack on up to 700 French supermarkets last month that triggered fires and food losses running into tens of millions of euros.
Dr Richard Horne, National Cyber Security Centre chief executive, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his agency had "worked through the night" alerting British firms with exposed refrigeration technology. The British Association of Independent Meat Suppliers confirmed some of its 300-plus members were caught up as "collateral" damage, though none lost any meat stock. Horne also backed government warnings urging Brits to stockpile essentials, saying: "It's your life, choose wisely."
Across seven European countries, hackers pushed freezer temperatures to 55C by taking advantage of internet-connected appliance management software.
More than 800 British retail cooling interfaces are reachable via the public internet, though the NCSC describes the UK impact as 'minimal' so far.
Horne cautioned that the attacks may represent only the 'foothills' of a broader threat, with AI enabling hostile states to identify and exploit infrastructure vulnerabilities at unprecedented scale.
