France investigates cyberattack that heated supermarket fridges at hundreds of stores

French authorities are investigating a nationwide cyberattack in which hackers remotely took control of supermarket refrigeration systems overnight early this week, CNN, Al Jazeera and NBC News reported.

What happened

• Around 700 food retailers were affected, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV. Chains hit include Carrefour (up to 80 stores), Monoprix (about 5% of its 490 stores), Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché (150 shops) and about 80 Coopérative U stores, CNN reported.
• Attackers switched on defrost cycles and removed temperature limits; display cabinets reached about 50°C for roughly six hours, spoiling fresh and frozen food, and some units caught fire, per security analysts cited by CNN.
• The compromised controllers were made by Danfoss, Copeland and Dixell, according to French cyber agency ANSSI. Danfoss said many affected units no longer received security updates; Copeland cited a vulnerability in discontinued, end-of-life controllers.

Investigation and politics

The Paris prosecutor’s office has taken the case under its national jurisdiction. No group has claimed responsibility and no ransom demand has been reported; researcher Félix Aimé of Sekoia said the motive is “unknown at this stage” and that a lone hacker, hacktivists or an attempt to destabilise economic activity are all possible. He also told Reuters that Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium were affected.

Economy Minister Roland Lescure said there was no risk of food shortages but called the attack “a wake-up call for everyone.” The incident comes weeks after President Emmanuel Macron warned of an intensified “Russian hybrid threat”; there is no public attribution of this attack to any state.