A butcher shop in the Kifisia district of Athens was reportedly targeted in a cyberattack that allowed hackers to manipulate its refrigeration control system and set the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius (302 degrees Fahrenheit), Greek media reported on Tuesday.
According to Greek daily Capital, the shop’s owner, Giorgos Boumpas, said employees discovered the problem when they arrived for work early in the morning and found that the refrigeration equipment was not functioning normally.
Initially suspecting a mechanical malfunction, staff contacted a refrigeration technician, who subsequently determined that the system had been compromised by hackers.
“They had set the refrigerators to 150 degrees Celsius; we could not manually intervene as we could not access the system,” Boumpas said.
He explained that the technician eventually regained control of the refrigeration system after approximately two hours.
According to Boumpas, the technician also informed the business that two other establishments in the area had experienced similar incidents, raising concerns about the vulnerability of digitally connected refrigeration equipment.
The shop owner said the affected businesses, including his own, used the services of a third-party refrigeration company for security purposes.
He noted that older refrigeration motors had remained unaffected, while newer systems equipped with wireless network connectivity appeared vulnerable to unauthorised access.
Following the incident, the butcher shop disabled its Wi-Fi connection as an immediate precaution, while a technician was expected to examine options for a permanent security solution.
The reported attack highlights the potential cybersecurity risks associated with internet-connected commercial equipment, particularly systems that allow remote monitoring and temperature adjustments.
Although the refrigeration controls were reportedly set to an extreme temperature, it remains unclear whether the equipment physically reached that level or whether the incident resulted in damage to stored products.
No information was immediately available about the identity of the alleged hackers or whether authorities had launched a formal investigation.