Investigators hunt French supermarket fridge hackers, no claim of responsibility
CARR•At least 350 French supermarkets were affected by a cyberattack that overrode refrigerator temperatures, spoiling food, with no group claiming responsibility. Investigators and experts said outdated software and internet-exposed device interfaces may have enabled the attack.
1. Fridges compromised
French investigators were hunting the hackers who seized control of cooling units at at least 350 supermarkets, including Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarche and Cooperative U. Staff at some Paris stores discarded spoiled meat and frozen goods.
2. Outdated software cited
France’s cybersecurity agency said the breach affected refrigerators using software by Danfoss, Copeland and Dixell. Danfoss said many affected units had reached end of life or were running outdated firmware; researchers had previously identified vulnerabilities in older versions of its firmware.
3. Separate Dutch incident
Experts said the French attack may have exploited outdated software and internet-accessible device interfaces. Separately, Ahold Delhaize said it had begun a controlled relaunch of some systems after a cybersecurity incident disrupted online services; Dutch authorities said they saw no connection to the French attack.
