Hundreds of supermarkets across France have become the target of a massive, coordinated cyberattack that compromised internet-connected refrigeration systems, leading to significant food spoilage and sparking concerns about the fragility of digitalized food supply chains.
On Monday, major retailers confirmed that hackers had remotely accessed cooling units manufactured by the Danish firm Danfoss. The breach caused temperatures in freezers and fridges at more than 500 locations to spike as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) during overnight hours when stores were closed. In several instances, the excessive heat resulted in equipment melting or ignited fires.
The disruption has affected prominent retail groups including E.Leclerc, Intermarché, Carrefour, Monoprix, and Cooperative U. Intermarché reported that at least 300 of its stores, along with its Netto brand, were impacted. Cooperative U stated that over 100 supermarkets were targeted, while Carrefour confirmed 80 affected locations. Monoprix indicated that approximately five percent of its nearly 490 stores experienced issues.
France’s cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, has urged businesses operating the affected Danfoss models, specifically the AK-SM800 and AK-SC355, to immediately disconnect them from the internet or restrict access and apply necessary software updates. Authorities are currently investigating the perpetrators, though the motive remains unclear. Reports from French media suggest the attackers may have exploited a forced defrost function within the systems.
Danfoss informed the AFP news agency that many of the compromised control systems were legacy products running outdated firmware, for which the company had previously recommended updates. Officials are also coordinating with other European nations to determine if similar attacks have occurred abroad.
This incident follows a directive from President Emmanuel Macron last month to strengthen protections for critical infrastructure against Russian
Imagine wasting all that perfectly good food because hackers pressed a button. What a pointless, messy way to disrupt supply chains.
Is this definitely foreign actors? The timing with Macron’s directive feels coincidentally convenient for blaming Russia.
I work in retail IT. We’ve been begging for air-gapped systems for years. Finally, someone proved us right.
Did anyone actually get hurt? The article mentions fires and melting equipment, which sounds dangerous beyond just spoiled food.
This is terrifying. Leaving critical infrastructure on outdated firmware is negligence, not an accident.