Hackers Heat French Supermarket Fridges, Spoiling Food and Sparking Fires

Hackers launched a large-scale cyberattack across France, targeting refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets overnight and causing food spoilage and fires.

The attack, which began Sunday night and continued into Monday, forced temperatures in refrigerators and freezers to rise as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) for several hours. Retailers including Intermarché, E. Leclerc, and Coopérative U confirmed their stores were affected, with Intermarché reporting around 150 locations hit and Coopérative U stating over 100 outlets were targeted.

Affected stores were forced to discard all fresh and frozen food due to health risks. The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the attack, which has led to an investigation into the large-scale cyberattack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has instructed France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate, and France is coordinating with European counterparts due to concerns that other countries may also be affected.

Analysts suggest the attack exploited vulnerabilities in software provided by Danish engineering firm Danfoss, particularly older models that no longer receive security updates. Initial losses are estimated to be in the millions of euros, with some individual stores reporting damages in the hundreds of thousands.