Hackers heat French supermarket fridges, sparking fires and food losses
- A major coordinated cyberattack targeted commercial refrigeration systems across hundreds of French supermarkets overnight, remotely manipulating industrial cooling controls to trigger continuous forced defrost cycles and spike internal temperatures up to 50°C .
- The attack primarily impacted systems manufactured by Danish climate solutions company Danfoss, exploiting software vulnerabilities—previously flagged by security researchers in August—to override safety limits and run defrost heaters indefinitely.
- More than 300 Intermarché and Netto locations, nearly 100 Coopérative U stores, and several E.Leclerc outlets were hit, resulting in massive food spoilage, millions of euros in lost inventory, and localized electrical fire outbreaks triggered by overheating defrost elements.
- The Paris Prosecutor's Office opened a formal nationwide criminal investigation into the attack, while supermarket groups voiced concerns that standard commercial insurance policies may fail to cover damages caused by remote cyber sabotage.
- The breach occurred alongside a separate European retail cyber incident that disrupted website orders, delivery systems, and electronic shelf labels across Dutch and Belgian chains, including Albert Heijn and Delhaize.
766 Articles
766 Articles
Cyberattack in France impacts fridges at hundreds of grocery stores
A cyberattack targeted fridges at hundreds of grocery stores in France, as well as several other European countries. Company executives said this could lead to tens of millions of dollars in losses.
Cyber alarm in the refrigerated shelf! Unknown hackers have crept into the cooling technology of many supermarkets. By remote access, they partially set the plants in France to up to 50 degrees Celsius. The consequences are severe: food spoils, as well as fires reported. Attackers targeted several large retail chains, including Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarché and Coopérative U. And [...]
Cyber alarm in the refrigerated shelf! Unknown hackers have crept into the cooling technology of many supermarkets. By remote access, they partially set the plants in France to up to 50 degrees Celsius. The consequences are severe: food spoils, as well as fires reported. Attackers targeted several large retail chains, including Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarché and Coopérative U. And [...]
French supermarkets face millions in losses after cyberattack hits refrigerators nationwide
A cyberattack in France targeted connected refrigerators at hundreds of supermarket stores, forcing chains like Carrefour and Monoprix to discard food over food safety concerns.
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