Who is hacking Europe’s supermarket fridges and freezers, and why?

The attack hit fridges in Belgian branches of Carrefour, Intermarché and Ikea, Coop and ICA in Sweden, Delhaize in Luxembourg, Kesko in Finland, SupaValu in Ireland and shops in Estonia.

It appeared to be a reprise of attacks three weeks ago when French retailers had to ditch huge amounts of food when their fridges suddenly overheated as a result of anonymous hackers seizing control of their internet-exposed appliance management software.

Something similar may have happened in the US in early August when a series of mysterious fridge malfunctions hit commissaries at least six military bases. The Pentagon is investigating a suspected hack.