French supermarkets face food crisis after cyberattack hits refrigerators

Supermarkets across France are grappling with a food crisis following a cyberattack that crippled their refrigeration systems, forcing them to discard perishable goods. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is personally monitoring the situation and has requested the cybersecurity agency ANSSI to investigate the matter. Intermarché and Cooperative U, two prominent supermarket chains, confirmed that their stores were affected, with Intermarché stating that they will need to discard fresh and frozen food from the impacted locations.

Cooperative U's CEO, Dominique Schelcher, also confirmed the cyberattack on their cold production facilities, which occurred since Sunday night. The EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, condemned the attack, which targeted refrigerators from Danish manufacturer Danfoss. Although Leclerc, France's largest supermarket chain, has not yet publicly commented on the incident, it is believed to be affected.

ANSSI has identified a vulnerability in the software provided by the Danish company and has reached out to them. The agency is collaborating with European counterparts, as other nations might also be impacted by this cyber threat. However, Danfoss has not yet responded to a request for comment on the matter, nor has ENISA provided any information regarding the incident.