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.
781 Articles
781 Articles
Cyberattacks Hit European Supermarket Chains and Disrupt Refrigeration Systems
PARIS (AP) — Cyberattacks disrupted European supermarket chains, affecting refrigeration systems at hundreds of stores in France and forcing a major grocer to shut down websites serving customers in Europe and the United States. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told Parliament on Tuesday that about 700 of the country’s 10,000 supermarkets were affected. He said...
Supermarket freezers in France were hacked to heat to 120°F
Supermarket freezers across France were turned into ovens after hackers remotely cranked their temperatures up to a scorching 120°F (50°C), putting food supplies and store safety at risk. The cyberattack reportedly caused food to spoil and even sparked fires, leaving major grocery chains facing costly damage and losses. But how did hackers gain control of […] Read the original article here: Supermarket freezers across France were hacked to heat …
Traders were forced to throw away thousands of food products.
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.
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