Software flaw, fridges at 35°C, millions of euros lost: the inside story of the unprecedented cyberattack that hit French supermarkets

It only took one night to sabotage one of the essential links in the French food supply chain. Monday morning, upon arriving at their departments, employees of part of the French supermarket fleet made a disconcerting discovery: the refrigerators of entire departments had been taken out of service, condemning stocks of fresh and frozen products to destruction. The cause was an “unprecedented” and “extremely serious” cyberattack, according to Dominique Schelcher, the boss of Coopérative U, which targeted the cold production installations of several hundred major brands across the country. How did pirates get control of this essential equipment? How far does the damage go and what does this attack reveal about the vulnerabilities of mass distribution? Story of an attack that could push the cyber threat into a new era.

For Sophie Matt, boss of the Haguenau Intermarché, in Bas-Rhin, it all started at 5:40 a.m. this Monday morning...