Symbolic imageCyberattack heats fridges in hundreds of French supermarkets
Hackers raised refrigeration temperatures to up to 50C overnight in several hundred French supermarkets, causing food losses and fires. Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation.
The attack began overnight from Sunday, 11 October, and hit Intermarché, Netto, Coopérative U, Monoprix and E.Leclerc stores. Counts differ: Les Mousquetaires put its affected stores at about 150, while retailers told AFP at least 300 Intermarché and Netto outlets and fewer than 100 Coopérative U stores were hit. Le Monde reports the attackers stretched the defrost cycle from one to eight hours so alarms sounded late. Intermarché threw away all affected food, and Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher called the attack "unprecedented" and "unacceptable".
Flaw in Danfoss software
France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI, instructed by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, identified a vulnerability in software from the Danish firm Danfoss. Danfoss says the affected units ran outdated firmware and that it had long advised customers to update or migrate legacy systems.
Investigation and costs
The Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation to identify victims and link them to the reported losses and fires. No perpetrator has been named. Intermarché warns that its insurance does not cover this type of in-store incident.
Dutch chain reports incident
Ahold Delhaize said it was dealing with a "security issue" and took systems offline, leaving the Albert Heijn app and delivery down. The Guardian says a link to the French attack is unclear.