Hackers Turn Hundreds Of French Supermarket Fridges Into Ovens: Frozen Food Worth Millions Spoiled

On October 12, 2026, hackers targeted the refrigeration systems of hundreds of French supermarkets, raising the temperatures of connected fridges to 50 degrees Celsius and causing millions of dollars in food losses. France's Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation to identify the victims and determine the connection between the attack and subsequent fires. The Paris prosecutor's office said a large-scale attack was affecting connected refrigerators in several major food retailers across France.

BFM TV reported that hackers remotely triggered forced defrosting in the affected fridges. Les Mousquetaires, which owns Intermarché, stated that about 150 of its stores had fridges heated to 50-degree Celsius for six hours. The company had to discard all the affected food to avoid health risks. The attack hit retailers such as Intermarché, Super U, Carrefour, Monoprix, and Sekoia, among others.

The hackers exploited Danish-made Danfoss controllers and hijacked the defrost function, setting it to 122°F, while disabling monitoring so no alarms would trigger. French retail association FCD said some stores were already back up and running after the attack. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu instructed France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI to investigate the incident.

ANSSI identified a vulnerability in software supplied by Danish company Danfoss, and the company acknowledged that it had long advised customers to update their firmware and move to newer systems to prevent such attacks.