Cyber attack hits French supermarket fridges, spoils food
A cyber attack on French supermarket refrigeration systems disrupted hundreds of stores and spoiled fresh and frozen food, with losses estimated at millions of…
PARIS — A cyber attack French supermarkets suffered disrupted refrigeration systems in hundreds of stores, spoiling fresh and frozen food and raising concerns about food security. Hackers remotely altered controls for fridges and freezers, with some units reaching 50C overnight, according to an affected supermarket chain.
Food was removed from sale or thrown away where retailers could not guarantee its condition. French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the attack, which targeted several major food chains across the country.
Coopérative U said more than 100 of its supermarkets were targeted. Intermarché and its Netto brand reported 180 affected stores, while another 100 shops were urgently disconnected from the internet to prevent further disruption, a company spokesman said.
Carrefour, Monoprix and E.Leclerc were also reported among the affected retailers. The full scale remains unclear: figures from individual chains suggest about 400 stores were affected out of roughly 15,000 in France.
Older refrigeration systems targeted
The attack exploited software used to manage refrigeration units remotely. The normal overnight defrost cycle causes temperatures to rise briefly, but hackers ordered some units to heat up and remain hot.
Intermarché said its fridges reached 50C for six hours overnight into Monday. It discarded all affected food to avoid health risks. Some fresh and frozen food display units remained out of service on Monday afternoon, according to a statement from Mousquetaires Group, which owns Intermarché and Netto.
Carrefour said refrigerators in 80 of its 6,000 stores were hacked. Monoprix said 5% of its 400-plus stores were hit and that it removed food from sale if its condition could not be guaranteed.
Danish engineering firm Danfoss said the affected cold units were older models whose security software could not be updated to address a risk the company had identified. It said it had long advised businesses to keep supported systems up to date.
“Reliable refrigeration is critical to our customers' operations, and we remain committed to supporting our customers and helping them maintain secure and reliable systems they are used to,” Danfoss said.
The disruption had immediate consequences for shoppers and retailers: products that could not be kept safely chilled had to be removed, while some display units stayed offline as staff worked to restore service and restock shelves. Two supermarkets in the Alsace region reported combined losses of €270,000 (£228,000), according to French broadcaster BFMTV, which said the nationwide losses could reach millions of euros.
Investigation opened in France
The Paris prosecutor's office described the incident as a “large-scale cyber-attack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France”. Prosecutors are investigating the attack and its reported damage, including food losses and fires.
Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher called the attack “extremely serious and unprecedented”. He said staff were working with refrigeration specialists to restore the situation and called for an investigation, saying the targeting of equipment essential to France's food supply was “unacceptable”.
European Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen condemned the attack in a post on X. “Food security requires more attention at all levels. Because the weaponisation of food has become a reality,” he wrote.
At some Intermarché stores, the refrigeration systems heated to 50C for six hours overnight into Monday.
Source: bbc.co.uk
