Cyber attack in France heats up fridges and freezers at hundreds of supermarkets

Hundreds of supermarkets in France have been hit by a cyber attack in which hackers took over the software controlling the temperature of fridges and freezers and made the units heat up. Fresh and frozen food was spoiled, and the losses are estimated to run into millions of euros. The incident touched several of the country's biggest food retailers and has raised questions about the security of the food supply.

What happened

The attack targeted software from Danfoss, a Danish engineering firm, which retailers use to manage cold units remotely. Freezers normally defrost briefly overnight, with a slight temperature rise, but the hackers ordered the units to heat up and stay hot. One affected chain said some units warmed to 50C overnight. Danfoss did not confirm how hot the units could get.

The company said the affected units were older models whose security software could not be updated to counter a risk it had identified. It added that it had long advised businesses to keep supported systems up to date.

Affected stores

The full scale is unclear, but figures from individual chains suggest about 400 stores were hit out of roughly 15,000 in France. Coopérative U reported more than 100 affected stores, and Intermarché and Netto 180, while about 100 more shops were urgently disconnected from the internet. Carrefour said 80 of its 6,000 stores were affected, and Monoprix said 5% of its 400-plus stores. E.Leclerc was also hit.

Intermarché said its units heated to 50C for six hours overnight into Monday and that all affected food was thrown away. Managers arriving on Monday morning met a wave of hot air from the freezers, and in some places there were small fires. Two stores in the Alsace region reported combined losses of €270,000.

Response

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened a cyber-crime investigation. European Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen condemned the hack, saying food security needs more attention. Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher called the targeting of equipment essential to the food supply unacceptable and demanded an investigation.