Refrigerators in hundreds of French supermarkets suddenly began heating up, spoiling fresh and frozen goods and forcing retailers to dump food — the result, major chains say, of a cyberattack that has reignited fears about vulnerabilities in the country’s food supply.
Retail heavyweights E. Leclerc, Intermarche and Cooperative U confirmed to AFP that their networks were struck, an incident Cooperative U’s chief executive called “unprecedented”.
“Food security requires more attention at all levels,” said the EU’s Food and Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen on X.
He condemned the attack, adding such “exploitation of food” was now a “reality”.
According to statements provided separately to AFP, the attackers targeted at least 300 Intermarche or Netto-brand shops, more than 100 Cooperative U outlets, and several E. Leclerc stores.
Paris prosecutors confirmed the cyberattack, which was reported to have affected other large chains as well, and said it also appeared to have caused fires.
BFM TV reported that hackers “managed to remotely trigger the forced defrosting of the refrigeration systems in numerous stores”.
Danfoss said the affected equipment ‘no longer’ receives software or security updates
Intermarche told AFP that stores impacted by the incident would have to “throw away all of the products” that are fresh and frozen.
The specialist retail news site jebosseengrandedistribution.fr said Carrefour Market and Monoprix were also affected, though those companies have not confirmed that information.
E. Leclerc told AFP “that a cyberattack affected one of its refrigeration equipment suppliers”, leading to “repercussions on the operation of refrigeration systems in several stores”.
A source close to the matter said the attack focused on refrigeration control systems made by Danish manufacturer Danfoss.
Danfoss said in a statement that most of the impacted devices were “legacy” products that “no longer receive software or security updates”.
The company said its AK-SM800 and AK-SC355 fridge regulator systems were among those hit, and that one version of the former relied on “outdated firmware”.
It added that it has for years urged supermarkets to move away from those models.
Danfoss did not disclose how many systems were affected.
A person close to French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said France’s cybersecurity agency had already identified “a vulnerability in software supplied by a Danish company and has contacted the vendor”.
“It is liaising with its European counterparts, as other countries may be affected,” and is seeking “to identify other French companies involved in order to alert them” and “prevent the spread”, the source added.
‘Large-scale cyberattack’
Cooperative U Chief Executive Dominique Schelcher said refrigeration systems had been disrupted since last night, calling the episode “unprecedented”.
“Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products and to the food supply of the French people is extremely serious and is unprecedented,” he said on X.
“It is unacceptable,” he added.
He said the retailer’s teams were “fully mobilised” to get operations back to normal as quickly as possible.
“An investigation will be necessary to shed full light on this attack,” he added.
The Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP it has opened an investigation into “the large-scale cyberattack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France”.
Investigators aim to “identify the victims and establish the link with the damage they reported in terms of foodstuff losses and the outbreak of fires”, the prosecutor’s office said.
Intermarche denounced the food waste and the financial damage caused by the incident, but did not provide figures.
BFM TV said temperatures were “altered remotely, resulting in the destruction of stocks of fresh and frozen products”.
The attack lands amid broader anxiety across Europe about the disruption cybercriminals — and other malicious actors — can inflict on essential services and supply chains.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has backed Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, last month ordered steps to shield France’s critical infrastructure from Russian “hybrid attacks”.
Industrial systems such as refrigeration units, once largely kept offline, are increasingly networked through sensors and remote monitoring tools, Antoine Hautin of cybersecurity consultancy Almond told AFP.
Hitting what was likely hundreds of units at the same time, he said, pointed to “a certain level of sophistication”.
