On Monday, several supermarkets in France were hit by something they did not expect — not a robbery attempt, not theft, but a cyberattack, that too on their refrigerators.
Major French supermarket chains reported on Monday that a cyberattack caused refrigeration systems in hundreds of stores to heat up, forcing retailers to discard spoiled food and raising concerns about food security.
Big French retailers such as E. Leclerc, Intermarche and Cooperative U confirmed to news agency AFP that they had been targeted in the attack. Cooperative U's chief executive Dominique Schelcher described the incident as “unprecedented” and said that the attack affected their refrigeration systems since Sunday night.
Deep Dive
How did the cyberattack affect French supermarket refrigerators?
Why were French supermarket refrigeration systems vulnerable to the attack?
How many French supermarket stores were affected by the refrigeration cyberattack?
"Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products and to the food supply of the French people is extremely serious and is unprecedented. It is unacceptable," he wrote on X.
The European Union's food and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen condemned the attack on X and warned that such “exploitation of food” was now a “reality”.
“Food security requires more attention at all levels,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Food security requires more attention at all levels,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}At least 300 Intermarche and Netto stores, along with more than 100 Cooperative U outlets and several E. Leclerc stores, were targeted, the retailers told AFP in separate statements. According to French retail sector news website jebosseengrandedistribution.fr, retail chains such as Carrefour Market and Monoprix were also among those hit by the cyberattacks, however, both the chains have not yet confirmed this.
Paris prosecutors confirmed the cyberattack and indicated that fires had also been sparked. Reports suggested that the incident extended beyond the three retailers that publicly acknowledged being affected.
French broadcaster BFM TV reported that hackers “managed to remotely trigger the forced defrosting of the refrigeration systems in numerous stores”.
Intermarche said that the attack caused several affected stores to throw away products that were fresh and frozen.
Equipment with no software, security updates hit
The targeted systems were identified as refrigeration controls made by Danish manufacturer Danfoss, reported AFP, citing a source close to the matter.
Danfoss said in a statement to the news agency that most of the equipment involved belonged to an older generation of products that “no longer receive software or security updates”.
The company identified its AK-SM800 and AK-SC355 refrigerator regulator systems among the affected equipment. It also said a version of the AK-SM800 was running “outdated firmware”.
Danfoss said it had for a long time recommended that supermarkets move away from these models. However, the company did not disclose how many refrigeration control systems had been affected by the attack.
According to a person close to French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, the country's cyber security agency had already identified "a vulnerability in software supplied by a Danish company and has contacted the vendor".
"It is liaising with its European counterparts, as other countries may be affected," the source was quoted as saying by AFP.
Paris prosecutor said that they have launched a probe into the cyberattack.
(With inputs from AFP)