Hundrevis av franske frysere utsatt for cyberangrep

Dozens of French supermarkets have been vulnerable to cyberattacks that raised refrigerator and freezer temperatures, according to the BBC, citing a "affected supermarket source." Led by store managers on Monday morning, the issue caused warm air to emanate from the freezers. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu instructed France's national cybersecurity agency ANNSI to investigate, according to an Lecornu office source.

The attack led to fires, and several stores already had to discard food, Reuters reported. Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Belgium were also affected, said Felix Aime, a senior analyst in cyber threat intelligence at Sekoia Threat Detection and Research. Damage to the industry is likely to amount to "tens of millions" of euros, said Thierry Cotillard, executive director of the Intermarche chain.

Of the 180 affected stores, 100 were disconnected from the internet to prevent similar incidents, according to a Coopérative U spokesperson. Coopérative U and major distributors such as Carrefour and Monoprix were also targeted. "Attacking equipment essential for preserving fresh produce and the food supply to the French people is of extreme seriousness and unforgivable," Coopérative U's chief wrote on X. The attacked software allows retailers to manage white goods remotely and is delivered by the Danish engineering company Danfoss, according to the BBC.

The company says its affected units are older models with security software that could not be updated to mitigate a risk Danfoss had identified. Monday's attacks on French refrigerators and freezers resemble disruptions reported at multiple grocery stores for U.S. military personnel late last August, Reuters reported. Shortly before, a cyber security firm had pointed out vulnerabilities in Danfoss' software.

Danfoss told a news agency that it is "aware of incidents in France affecting a limited number of refrigerator control systems." Ahold Delhaize, which operates the Netherlands' largest supermarket chain Albert Heijn and has operations in the U.S., wrote in a press release that it has a "security issue" in its network and has taken some systems offline to protect them. The company said there is no indication that the incidents in France are connected, Reuters said.