Cyber Attack on French Supermarket Freezers Destroys Large Quantities of Food

Hackers have carried out a cyber attack on the connected refrigeration systems of several major French supermarket chains, raising freezer temperatures to as high as 50 degrees Celsius and destroying large quantities of food, with fires also breaking out in some stores. The attack was carried out at night, and the resulting rise in temperature ruined stock, with several stores reporting fire incidents as a result. The Paris prosecutor's office said the operation was a wide-ranging attack aimed at France's large food retail businesses. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has instructed the country's National Cyber Security Agency (ANSSI) to investigate the matter. France is also working with other European countries over concerns that they too could be affected. According to reports, the temperature of freezers in more than 150 Intermarché stores in France was raised for six hours during the attack, while 80 Carrefour stores and five percent of Monoprix stores were affected. In addition, reports say some businesses in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium have also been affected. Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard said this was a dangerous attack unlike any previously recorded, and that it had caused losses of many millions of euros in a single day. A large quantity of the affected food has been thrown away to protect public health. The attack was carried out by exploiting a vulnerability in internet-connected systems that control freezers. According to investigations, hackers gained access to systems that were using out-of-date software in refrigeration management systems manufactured by the Danish company Danfoss. Danfoss said it would previously have advised customers to update their systems' software to protect against this threat. In addition, Ahold Delhaize, the operator of the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, was also targeted by a cyber attack that disrupted online services, while similar attacks were also carried out against some US military stores last August.