In a massive cyber attack, unidentified hackers raised the temperature of refrigerators in hundreds of French supermarkets to 50°C overnight, leading to fires and food spoilage in stores across the country. The Paris prosecutor’s office said the attack affected “grid-connected refrigeration units in a number of large retail chains in France”.
Image source: unsplash.com
Les Mousquetaires, which owns the Intermarché chain, said the attack affected about 150 of its stores, with temperatures in refrigerators rising to 50°C for six hours. A company spokesman said all products had to be disposed of to avoid sanitary risks.
Cooperative U supermarkets were also hit by the attack. “The attack on equipment necessary to preserve fresh produce and provide food for the French population is an extremely serious and unprecedented incident,” said a company representative. Carrefour said 80 of its 6,000 supermarkets were affected. A number of other French supermarket chains, including Monoprix, E.Leclerc and Auchan, declined to comment.
Dutch supermarket operator Ahold Delhaize, which operates the country’s largest chain Albert Heijn and has large operations in the United States, also reported a security problem in its network and the shutdown of a number of systems to protect them. Customers received messages that due to a cybersecurity incident, product delivery could not be delivered. It is unclear whether there is a link between the attack on the French supermarket chain and the problems reported by Ahold Delhaize.
As a result of an investigation by the French National Cyber Security Agency (ANSSI), a vulnerability was identified in the software of the Danish company Danfoss. Danfoss stated that they “We are aware of incidents in France affecting a limited number of refrigeration control systems.” According to Danfoss, the affected devices had outdated software installed, which owners should have updated long ago.
According to an ANSSI representative, France is currently “coordinates actions with European partners, since other countries may also suffer”.
If you notice an error, select it with the mouse and press CTRL+ENTER.
