Investigators hunt French supermarket fridge hackers, no claim of responsibility

French investigators are searching for the hackers responsible for a cyberattack that disabled the cooling units of hundreds of supermarkets across France. No group has claimed responsibility, which has baffled investigators, as typically such groups make their intentions known by claiming credit or demanding ransom. The attack overrode the temperatures of refrigerators at supermarkets including Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarche and Cooperative U, causing perishable goods to spoil.

The attack is believed to have exploited outdated software from Danish firm Danfoss, with many affected units having reached their end of life and no longer receiving security updates. Danfoss advised customers to keep their systems updated and migrate legacy systems to current-generation solutions. Experts say the vulnerabilities in the outdated software have been known for months, and the hack was likely enabled by exposing device interfaces to the internet.

Despite the serious vulnerabilities, no ransom or demand was made, suggesting a lack of understanding of the potential financial losses faced by the supermarket owners. The issue of vulnerable and outdated fridges remains, with at least 4,500 Danfoss interfaces still reachable via the internet.