Attack on Refrigeration Systems
Hundreds of supermarkets in France were hit by a cyberattack that caused their refrigerators and freezers to heat up, spoiling fresh and frozen food valued at millions of euros. According to one affected chain, hackers took control of the software regulating the temperature of refrigeration units and forced some to reach 50°C overnight. The CEO of Coopérative U described the attack on several of its stores as extremely serious and unprecedented.[S1][S2]
More than 100 stores of Coopérative U were targeted, along with 180 Intermarché and Netto stores. A spokesperson said another 100 were urgently disconnected from the internet to prevent the same thing from happening. Other major chains, including Carrefour, Monoprix, and E.Leclerc, were also affected by the attack, which focused on software from Danish engineering company Danfoss. That software allows retailers to manage refrigeration equipment remotely.[S1]
Normally, supermarket freezers undergo a brief nightly defrost period when temperatures rise slightly. But the attackers ordered the equipment to heat up and stay hot. Danfoss did not confirm reports about how high the refrigerators and freezers might have reached. Danfoss said the affected equipment were older models whose security software could not be updated to protect them from a risk they had already identified. The company added in a statement that it has long advised customers to keep compatible systems up to date.[S1]
Scale of Impact and Response
The full extent of the attack is unknown, but figures from each chain suggest around 400 stores were affected out of approximately 15,000 in France. Carrefour reported that refrigerators in 80 of its 6,000 stores were attacked. Monoprix said 5% of its more than 400 stores were affected and that it removed food whose condition could not be guaranteed. In a statement to the BBC, Groupe Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarché and Netto, said some fresh and frozen product displays were still out of service on Monday afternoon. Stores had taken all necessary precautions to remove products from these units, it said, adding that staff were working to restock shelves as soon as possible.[S1]
Intermarché said its refrigerators reached 50°C for six hours on the night of Sunday to Monday, and that it discarded all affected food to avoid health risks, according to Reuters. As a result of the attack, managers arriving on Monday morning at branches of several chains were met with a blast of hot air from freezers. In some places there were even small fires. French broadcaster BFMTV published an image of a freezer in an ice cream aisle with a temperature of 26.5°C. Two supermarkets in the Alsace region reported combined losses of 270,000 euros (about US$300,000), the outlet added, meaning the national total could reach millions.[S1]
The French prosecutor's office opened a specific investigation into cybercrime. The Paris prosecutor's office described the incident as a large-scale cyberattack against the refrigerators of several major supermarket chains in France. European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen condemned the attack in a post on X, saying food safety requires more attention at all levels and that turning food into a weapon is already a reality. In another post on X, Coopérative U CEO Dominique Schelcher said staff were fully mobilized, in coordination with refrigeration specialists, to restore the situation as soon as possible. He called for an investigation into the attack and said that targeting equipment essential to France's food supply is unacceptable.[S1]
