What we know so far about the cyberattack that targeted French supermarkets

A large-scale cyberattack targeting hundreds of supermarkets in France has caused refrigerated cabinets to overheat, resulting in food spoilage and fires. According to Silicon Republic, hackers accessed cooling systems and set them to defrost, causing temperatures in some remotely controlled refrigerators to reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius for approximately six hours. The Local France reports that the incident led to millions of euros worth of stock being thrown away.

Silicon Republic reports that the attack affected between 150 and 200 Intermarché stores, 80 Coopérative U outlets, and roughly 80 Carrefour supermarkets, while France’s largest chain, E. Leclerc, was also reportedly hit. Monoprix stated that approximately 5% of its 490 stores were impacted. Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Coopérative U, described the targeting of essential food refrigeration equipment as "extremely serious and unprecedented."

The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the incident to identify victims and determine links to reported food waste and fires, according to Silicon Republic.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Local France, Silicon Republic, CNBC, CNBC World, CNBC Technology — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.