Hackers heat French supermarket fridges, sparking fires and spoiling food

Hackers manipulated the temperature settings of refrigerators and freezers in numerous French supermarkets overnight, raising their temperatures to as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). The Paris prosecutor's office reported on Monday that a large-scale cyber attack was impacting connected refrigerators at several major food retailers throughout France, resulting in fires and spoiled food.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu directed France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate the incident, according to a person in his office. France is coordinating with European counterparts to determine if other countries may also be affected, the person added, noting that authorities are assessing the potential risk to other French companies.

Felix Aime, a senior cyber threat intelligence analyst at Sekoia Threat Detection and Research, stated that Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Belgium had also experienced similar cyber attacks. Carrefour reported that 80 of its supermarkets were compromised, while Monoprix, which operates approximately 490 stores in France, stated that 5% of its stores were affected. Les Mousquetaires, the owner of retailer Intermarché, was among those impacted.