Investigators hunt French supermarket fridge hackers, no claim of responsibility

French investigators were searching for the hackers behind a cyberattack that took control of refrigeration units at hundreds of supermarkets across France, according to a source familiar with the investigation. The attack, which targeted supermarket chains such as Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarche, and Cooperative U, remained unclaimed by any hacktivist group or ransom demand by cybercriminals, baffling investigators.

Typically, such perpetrators would quickly seek to exploit their hack for financial gain or claim credit for political reasons. The attack, which manually altered the temperatures of fridges, appears to have been relatively simple to execute, according to three cyber experts who spoke to Reuters. Some supermarkets in Paris reportedly discarded boxes of spoiled meat and frozen goods in large dumpsters on Tuesday.

Over 350 supermarkets in France were affected by the attack, representing a small percentage of the total number of supermarkets in the country. The malfunctioning fridges relied on outdated software provided by Danish company Danfoss.