A major cyberattack disrupted refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets overnight, forcing temperatures in fridges and freezers to rise as high as 50°C and spoiling vast quantities of fresh and frozen food.
The attack targeted connected cooling units at major chains including Intermarché, Coopérative U, E.Leclerc, Carrefour and Monoprix, with at least 300 Intermarché or Netto stores, over 100 Coopérative U outlets, 80 Carrefour supermarkets and 5% of Monoprix’s 490 stores affected, according to company statements. Hackers remotely triggered forced defrost cycles, leaving stores to discard entire stocks of perishable goods. Some locations reported fires due to overheating systems.
Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Coopérative U, called the attack “extremely serious and unprecedented,” emphasizing its impact on food preservation and supply. Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard estimated nationwide losses in the “tens of millions of euros” in a single day. Authorities confirmed the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu directed France’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to probe the incident. Security experts linked the breach to vulnerabilities in Danfoss refrigeration control software, with some affected units running outdated firmware.
France is coordinating with European counterparts over potential cross-border risks, as the attack exposed weaknesses in critical supply chain infrastructure.
