A major cyber incident has disrupted food preservation systems across France, causing fresh and frozen products to spoil and fires to break out at several supermarkets. The attack forced refrigeration units to heat up to 50°C, prompting a nationwide investigation.
Major retailers, including Intermarché, Coopérative U, E.Leclerc, Carrefour and Monoprix, confirmed the “unprecedented” attack on Monday. At least 300 Intermarché and Netto stores and more than 100 Coopérative U outlets were affected. Carrefour reported disruptions at 80 supermarkets, while around 5% of Monoprix’s approximately 490 stores were hit. E.Leclerc also confirmed that several outlets were targeted.
The Paris prosecutor’s office described it as a “large-scale” attack affecting “connected refrigerators in several major food retailers across France”. The incident caused food losses and fires.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu directed France’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate. Authorities are coordinating with European counterparts and checking whether other French businesses face similar risks.
Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard estimated that the attack could cause “tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day”. Hackers reportedly triggered the remote defrosting of refrigeration systems, leading to the “destruction of stocks of fresh and frozen products”. Affected Intermarché stores were told to “throw away all of the products” that were fresh or frozen.
Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher said the disruption began on Sunday night. He called targeting essential food-preservation equipment “extremely serious” and “unprecedented”, adding that teams were working to restore operations and investigate the incident.
ANSSI reportedly identified a vulnerability in software supplied by Danish company Danfoss. The company said it was “aware of incidents in France affecting a limited number of refrigeration management systems”. It added that the affected units were running outdated firmware and that customers had long been advised to update software and replace older equipment.
The attack follows cybersecurity research published on August 9 that identified Danfoss system vulnerabilities that could allow authentication to be bypassed. France’s retail federation called on the company to provide “full transparency”. Some affected stores have resumed operations.
Cyberthreat analyst Felix Aime said Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium had also been affected.
Cybersecurity analyst Steven Lachance said the incident was rare in scale, warning that internet-connected equipment can be accessed remotely. He called it “a global wake-up call” and urged national and international action, warning that future attacks could target energy infrastructure or hospitals.
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