"Freezer temperatures cranked up to 50 degrees Celsius"... 'Bizarre attack' devastates hundreds of supermarkets in France.

Remote hacking leads to mass disposal of refrigerated and frozen foods, with fires reported
Losses expected to reach tens of millions of euros in a single day
Major retailers including Carrefour and Intermarché hit hard

A large-scale cyberattack at hundreds of supermarkets across France caused temperatures in refrigerators and freezers to soar to as high as 50 degrees. Hackers reportedly remotely manipulated refrigeration and freezing equipment, leading to the disposal of large quantities of fresh food and even fires at some stores.

Yonhap News reported on October 13, citing Reuters and AFP, that the Paris prosecutor’s office had launched an investigation into a large-scale cyberattack targeting the refrigeration and freezing equipment of major food retailers.

A major cyberattack hit hundreds of supermarkets across France, causing temperatures in refrigerators and freezers to soar to as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Reuters-Yonhap News Agency

The attack occurred between the night of October 11 and the early hours of October 12. Investigators believe the hackers breached the control systems of internet-connected refrigeration equipment and forced the defrost function to activate, raising the temperatures inside refrigerators and freezers. At some stores, temperatures in the refrigeration equipment reached as high as 50 degrees and remained there for about six hours. As a result, temperature-sensitive products, including meat, dairy products and frozen foods, spoiled and had to be discarded in large quantities. Some equipment also reportedly caught fire.

The impact spread across major supermarket chains throughout France. According to AFP, about 300 stores belonging to Intermarché and Netto were affected by the attack. Carrefour said 80 of its stores were affected, while Monoprix said about 5% of its more than 490 stores across France were impacted.

Fewer than 100 stores operated by Coopérative U were affected, and French retail giant E.Leclerc also confirmed that some of its stores had experienced refrigeration equipment failures. However, the total number of affected stores has not been confirmed, as retailers used different criteria for their estimates and announced them at different times.

The impact spread across major supermarket chains throughout France. According to AFP, around 300 stores operated by Intermarché and Netto were affected by the attack. Reuters-Yonhap

The Mousquetaires Group, which operates Intermarché, said it had discarded all affected products to ensure food safety after temperatures in its refrigeration and freezing equipment rose abnormally. At one Intermarché store in Paris, employees were seen throwing frozen foods, including melted ice cream, into large waste containers.

The attack is also expected to cause substantial economic losses. In an interview with French broadcaster BFM TV, Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard described the incident as an unprecedented attack and estimated that losses across the country could reach tens of millions of euros in a single day. Some of the hardest-hit stores temporarily suspended sales of fresh food. The retail industry may also face issues over insurance compensation, in addition to the costs of disposing of food and repairing equipment.

The hackers exploited the control systems of Danish refrigeration equipment specialist Danfoss. The incident has raised broader concerns about security across the retail industry, as the remote management functions of refrigeration equipment can be exploited as an entry point for external attacks.

Supermarket refrigeration and freezing equipment is connected to control units that manage temperatures throughout the store. Maintenance providers can use the internet to remotely check the equipment’s status or change its settings. Experts warn that if these convenient features are exploited in a cyberattack, they could directly harm food safety and store operations. Danfoss said it was aware of an incident affecting some refrigeration management systems in France and was working with its customers to mitigate the impact.

The French government has also launched an urgent response. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered the national cybersecurity agency to investigate the incident. The Paris prosecutor’s office plans to work with cybercrime investigators to identify the affected businesses and assess the scale of the damage, as well as determine whether food losses and fire damage were linked to the attack.

There are also concerns that the attack may have spread beyond France to other European countries.

The French government is sharing information with other European countries to check for further impacts. However, the scale of the damage in each country and whether the attacks were carried out by the same hacking group have yet to be confirmed. Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Coopérative U, criticized the attack on social media, calling it an extremely serious and unprecedented act to target equipment essential to preserving fresh food and ensuring the public’s food supply.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.