Hackers breach French supermarket refrigerators, causing fires and product spoilage

Hackers breached connected refrigeration systems in hundreds of French supermarkets overnight, raising temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius. The attacks triggered fires and spoiled goods across the country. The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the intrusion affected networked cooling units in a range of major retail chains. Company Les Mousquetaires, owner of the Intermarché network, reported about 150 of its stores were affected. Temperatures rose for six hours before the incident was contained. All products had to be discarded to avoid sanitary risks. The Cooperative U supermarket chain also suffered damage, calling the incident extremely serious and unprecedented given its impact on food preservation and national supply. Carrefour stated 80 of its 6000 stores were impacted. Other chains including Monoprix, E.Leclerc and Auchan declined to comment.

Dutch operator Ahold Delhaize, which manages the Albert Heijn network in France and operates extensively in the United States, also reported a cybersecurity incident. Customers received messages that product delivery was impossible due to the security event. It remains unclear whether the French attacks are linked to the Ahold Delhaize issues.