French Supermarket Fridges Hacked, Causing Food Spoilage and Fires

French investigators are hunting hackers who seized control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets in a cyberattack that occurred overnight from October 11 to October 12, 2026.

No group has publicly claimed responsibility, and no ransom demand has been made, puzzling investigators. The cyberattack impacted at least 350 supermarkets, including major chains like Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarche, and Cooperative U, with some reports estimating over 500 affected stores. Hackers manually overrode the temperatures at fridges, activating automatic defrosting systems and forcing refrigeration units to heat up to 50 degrees Celsius (122F).

Some stores reported fridge temperatures as high as 80 degrees Celsius. This caused fresh and frozen food to spoil, leading to millions of euros in losses, with an Intermarche in Haguenau losing around €50,000 and an E.Leclerc store in Wasselonne discarding products valued at €220,000. Staff at some Paris supermarkets were seen throwing boxes of perished goods into trash containers.

Some locations also reported small fires caused by overheating equipment. The affected fridges relied on software by Danish firm Danfoss, which stated that many affected units had reached end of life and no longer receive software or security updates or were running outdated firmware. Danfoss had previously advised customers to update their systems. Three cyber experts told Reuters the attack appeared easy to pull off.

Cooperative U CEO Dominique Schelcher described the attack as unprecedented and unacceptable. Les Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarché, expects damages to reach several million euros in losses. France's cybersecurity agency advised companies operating affected freezer models to immediately disconnect them from the internet or restrict access and perform software updates. The attack reportedly affected several other European countries, including Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Belgium.