A large-scale cyber attack targeting the cooling systems of hundreds of supermarkets in France caused losses worth millions of euros. Hackers remotely raised the temperature of refrigerators and freezers in some stores by up to 50 degrees. It was reported that tons of food spoiled and fires broke out due to the attack. French authorities launched an investigation to determine the scope of the incident and those responsible.
Intermarche and Cooperative U, two of France's leading retail chains, announced in their statements that their stores were affected by a cyber attack. The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office also confirmed the large-scale attack targeting the interconnected refrigeration systems of major food retailers across the country.
Les Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarche, announced that approximately 150 of its stores were affected by the attack. It was stated that there were problems in approximately 100 branches of Cooperative U. News was published that Carrefour, Monoprix and E. Leclerc chains were also affected by the attack. However, the companies did not confirm these claims.
Rather than disabling the systems, the attackers reportedly changed the cooling settings and raised the temperature of some units by up to 50 degrees. Employees who came to the stores in the morning determined that meat, dairy products, fresh foods and frozen products had become unusable due to the disruption of the cold chain.
A spokesperson for Les Mousquetaires explained that refrigerators in the affected stores heated up to 50 degrees for approximately six hours overnight. The spokesman said that all spoiled food was destroyed to prevent health risks.
Cooperative U CEO Dominique Schelcher called the attack "unprecedented." Schelcher used the following statements in his statement from his X account:
"The targeting of equipment vital to the protection of fresh produce and the people's food supply in France is extremely serious and unprecedented. This is unacceptable."
Schelcher stated that the company is mobilizing all its resources to return to normal activities as soon as possible. He also stated that a comprehensive investigation should be conducted to shed light on all aspects of the attack.
Intermarche CEO Thierry Cotillard also told BFM TV that the attack would cause losses of tens of millions of euros in a single day across the country. However, an exact calculation has not yet been made regarding the total loss across the sector.
Intermache pointed out that current insurance policies do not cover such incidents in stores.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu instructed the country's national cyber security agency, ANSSI, to launch an investigation into the incident.
A source close to Lecornu said ANSSI detected a security flaw in software provided by Danish company Danfoss. As part of the investigation, it is being investigated whether the attackers took advantage of this vulnerability and how many systems were affected.
Danfoss said it was "aware of incidents affecting a limited number of cooling management systems in France." The company stated that the affected devices were using outdated software versions.
In its statement, Danfoss stated that it "has long recommended that customers keep supported systems up to date with the latest software versions and migrate older systems to current generation solutions."
It is not yet clear whether the attack only affected France. The French administration is coordinating with its European counterparts with the possibility that other countries may also be at risk. Authorities are investigating whether other companies in the country face similar threats.
Felix Aime, senior cyber threat intelligence analyst at Sekoia Threat Detection and Research company, said that Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium were also affected by the attacks.
The French retailers' union, the Federation of Trade and Distribution (FCD), demanded "full transparency" from Danfoss regarding the incident. The union announced that stores aim to protect consumers and return to normal operations as soon as possible. It was also reported that some stores have reopened.
