Cyberattack disrupts refrigeration at hundreds of French supermarkets
· BehindLines newsroom
Several French supermarket chains reported losing fresh and frozen stock after an attack on remotely managed cooling
equipment during the night from Sunday to Monday. The BBC says intruders took control of temperature-management
software supplied by Denmark's Danfoss. Prosecutors in Paris have opened a cybercrime investigation. Neither the
attackers' identity nor their motive has been established.
What the retailers say
The available scale comes from separate retailer statements. Coopérative U reported more than 100 affected shops.
Les Mousquetaires counted 180 Intermarché and Netto outlets, with another hundred disconnected from the internet as a
precaution. Carrefour reported 80 affected locations across a network of roughly 6,000; Monoprix put the share at 5%
of its stores. Combining these announcements, the BBC estimated around 400 affected supermarkets out of some 15,000 in
France. That figure should be read as an estimate assembled from company reports, rather than an official count.
Temperature and loss figures come from different sources. Intermarché said some equipment reached 50°C for six hours,
according to Reuters reporting relayed by the BBC. In a separate example, the Guardian's video report described an
Intermarché in La Haye where the manager said fresh and frozen stock had been lost after refrigeration temperatures
rose to 27°C. These are accounts from different locations, not a single temperature measurement applicable to every
affected shop.
The BBC, citing BFMTV, reported combined losses of €270,000 at two supermarkets in Alsace. It suggested national
losses might reach several million euros, but no national total has been published.
Why the equipment was exposed
Danfoss did not confirm the temperatures reported by retailers. The company said the affected equipment consisted of
older models whose security protection could no longer be updated, and said it had previously urged customers to use
supported systems.
The incident raises questions about maintaining connected equipment used in food distribution. European food
commissioner Christophe Hansen called attention to food security, according to the BBC. The investigation still needs
to establish the route of intrusion, the full number of affected sites and the final losses. The available reporting
does not establish responsibility for the attack.