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Hackers heat French supermarket fridges, sparking fires and spoiling food
NBC News • • business
Key Points:
- Hackers targeted connected refrigerators and freezers at hundreds of French supermarkets, raising temperatures up to 122°F overnight, causing fires and widespread food spoilage.
- The Paris prosecutor’s office and France’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) are investigating the large-scale attack, which also affected retailers in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Belgium.
- Major French retailers including Carrefour, Monoprix, Les Mousquetaires, and Cooperative U reported significant store impacts, with losses potentially reaching tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day.
- The attack exploited vulnerabilities in refrigeration management software supplied by Danish company Danfoss, particularly in units running outdated firmware despite prior warnings to update systems.
- Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize experienced a related cybersecurity incident affecting its online grocery delivery services, though it stated no confirmed link to the French attacks; physical stores remained open amid increased demand.
