A cyberattack disrupted refrigeration systems at major French supermarkets, causing massive food waste and highlighting critical industrial cybersecurity flaws.
Cyberattack hits French supermarket refrigeration systems
A cyberattack targeting the refrigeration systems of several major French supermarket chains, including Leclerc, Intermarché, Carrefour, Super U, and Monoprix, occurred during the night of Sunday, October 11, to Monday, October 12, causing significant disruptions and food waste. Multiple stores affected across chains
At least 300 Intermarché/Netto stores, fewer than 100 from the Coopérative U network, several stores from the E.Leclerc group, 80 Carrefour supermarkets, and about thirty Monoprix stores were affected, according to reports. Investigation launched by Paris prosecutors
The Paris prosecutor's office announced an independent investigation into the incident, led by the anti-cybercrime section and entrusted to the Office of Anti-Cybercrime (OFAC), to identify victims and assess damages related to food loss and equipment that began to catch fire. Old Danfoss systems targeted
The refrigeration regulation systems of the Danish manufacturer Danfoss were targeted. Danfoss stated that the majority of the affected units were old products that had reached the end of their life and no longer received software or security updates. Recommendations for system updates
The company emphasized that it had long recommended customers to keep supported systems up to date and migrate legacy systems to current solutions. The National Agency for Information System Security (ANSSI) highlighted the need to disconnect these systems from the internet or adopt a very restrictive network filtering policy. Hackers raised temperatures to 50 degrees
According to Thierry Cotillard, head of Mousquetaires/Intermarché, the hackers remotely defrosted the cold units, raising their temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius. This resulted in the need to discard affected products to maintain the cold chain, with estimated national costs reaching tens of millions of euros. Damage estimates vary by store size
Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Coopérative U, noted that only approximately 80 of the 2,000 stores under his oversight were affected, with damages ranging from several tens of thousands of euros in small outlets to nearly 200,000 euros in hypermarkets. He acknowledged the "completely unprecedented, unexpected and serious" nature of the attack but emphasized that a minority of affected stores had to discard merchandise. Industrial systems lack cybersecurity design
The attack highlighted vulnerabilities in industrial equipment that are now connected via sensors or remote monitoring systems, which were historically designed for reliability and cost control rather than cybersecurity. Danfoss had mentioned several serious vulnerabilities in its software used in refrigeration systems, including a flaw allowing attackers to gain read and write access to internal values and execute insecure computer programs. Cybersecurity overlooked in business
General André Petillot of the gendarmerie noted that cybersecurity had been underestimated in the business world and administrations. Government mobilizes to address the issue
The Prime Minister's entourage confirmed that Sébastien Lecornu had immediately asked ANSSI to take charge of the issue and is personally following the case. ANSSI confirmed it is mobilized at both the French and European levels to support victims and coordinate with counterparts. Industry calls for transparency and action
The Federation of Trade and Distribution (FCD) called for full transparency and immediate implementation of necessary measures by Danfoss and its refrigeration clients.
