French Supermarket Fridges Defrosted

Hackers remotely manipulated refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets, including stores run by IntermarchéIntermarchéFrench multinational supermarket chain, Coopérative UCoopérative UFrench retailers' cooperative, comprising about eight hundred independent hypermarkets and supermarkets, CarrefourCarrefourFrench hypermarket brand of the Carrefour Group and other chains. The attack also caused fires, and Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into damage and food losses. The targeted equipment included DanfossDanfossDanish manufacturing company refrigeration controllers; the company said many affected systems were legacy products with outdated firmware that no longer received security updates. Supermarkets use connected controls to manage refrigeration across stores, making them part of the infrastructure that preserves food. Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher called the attack unprecedented and unacceptable. Some units reached about 50°C, forcing stores to discard spoiled food. France’s National Cybersecurity Agency was asked to investigate while authorities assessed the attack’s full reach.