Hackers Break Into Supermarket Fridges and Spoil All the Groceries

On Sunday night, cybercriminals infiltrated the refrigeration systems of numerous supermarkets throughout France, raising their temperatures to a scorching 122 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, vast quantities of groceries were ruined, with some stores even experiencing fires. The Paris prosecutor’s office labeled the incident as a "large-scale" assault targeting several major food retailers across the nation.

Carrefour reported that 80 of its supermarkets were hit, while Intermarche confirmed that 150 of its stores had their fridges heated to extreme temperatures for six hours. Monoprix, with 490 stores in France, stated that about five percent of its locations were affected. Intermarche CEO Thierry Cotillard estimated the attack to have caused losses of "tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day," calling it "unprecedented."

Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Cooperative U, whose 80 supermarket locations were also targeted, echoed similar sentiments, deeming the breach "of extreme gravity and unprecedented."

Refrigerators and freezers are typically connected to the internet, allowing for monitoring and remote temperature adjustments. However, these systems seemed to be lacking adequate security. France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) is currently investigating the incident and has identified a vulnerability in the software provided by the Danish firm Danfoss.

Danfoss acknowledged the issue, stating that the affected units were running outdated firmware. Recent software updates by Danfoss had already addressed a series of vulnerabilities discovered by cybersecurity firm Team82 in August that could have allowed attackers to bypass authentication controls and remotely execute code. The attack may not have been limited to France alone, as Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize, which owns supermarket chains such as Food Lion and Giant in the US, reported a "security issue" and temporarily shut down some of its systems for precautionary measures, though it did not connect the French incidents to the incident.

With increasing reports of AI's involvement in cyberattacks, it's difficult not to speculate if this incident was yet another example of AI-enabled cybercrime. Recent CrowdStrike research found a nearly 90 percent year-over-year increase in AI-enabled cyberattacks.