Cyberattack Disrupts Refrigeration Systems Across Hundreds of French Supermarkets

A coordinated cyberattack has compromised refrigeration controllers at approximately 400 French supermarkets, resulting in significant spoilage of perishable inventory. The incident involved the remote activation of defrost functions, effectively disabling cooling systems across multiple retail chains.

Investigations indicate the attack targeted specific refrigeration controllers manufactured by Danfoss. The vulnerability appears linked to legacy software versions, which security researchers previously identified as having exploitable flaws that allow for the manipulation of temperature reporting and cooling operations.

France’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, is currently coordinating a response at both national and European levels. The incident highlights systemic risks associated with internet-exposed industrial control systems and the potential for supply chain disruptions through third-party hardware vulnerabilities.

Retailers have initiated recovery efforts in collaboration with technical specialists to restore operations. The incident underscores the necessity for rigorous patch management and network segmentation for critical infrastructure components within the retail sector.