Cyberattack Hits Refrigeration at Hundreds of French Supermarkets, Spoiling Fresh Food

A cyberattack overnight Sunday disrupted refrigeration at hundreds of French supermarkets, according to retailers and French media. Attackers reportedly triggered the defrost function on the units remotely, and fresh food spoiled at stores run by some of the country's largest grocery chains. BFMTV reported that about 300 Intermarché and Netto stores and fewer than 100 Coopérative U stores were affected. Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher called the attack unprecedented and unacceptable, saying his teams were working with refrigeration specialists to restore normal operations.

BFMTV reported that the affected systems are refrigeration controllers made by Danish manufacturer Danfoss, and that the attackers targeted older versions of its software. Groupement Mousquetaires, which owns Intermarché and Netto, said the systems were managed by Danfoss and that it would be up to the supplier to file a criminal complaint. Danfoss has not publicly confirmed that its systems were the target. France's national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, said it was mobilised to support potential victims and coordinate with European counterparts.

Security researchers have previously flagged weaknesses in these controllers. Last year, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published an advisory covering three vulnerabilities. Researchers at Claroty's Team82 later showed that a compromised controller could switch off cooling while still reporting normal temperatures to staff, and counted more than 2,700 such devices exposed to the internet. It is not known whether those flaws were used in Sunday's attack.