Cyberattack on French Supermarkets Leads to Significant Product Losses

<p>A cyberattack in France forced multiple grocery stores to discard large amounts of temperature-sensitive products after hackers altered the settings of food refrigerators in hundreds of stores across at least five chain brands.</p><p>The attack, according to Reuters and European officials, affected chains including Carrefour, Monoprix, Les Mousquetaires, E. Leclerc, and Coopérative U.</p><p>The CEO of Coopérative U confirmed the cyberattack in a post on X, stating, "I confirm that a cyberattack has been affecting, since last night, the cold production facilities of several stores in our network Coopérative U." He added that teams were mobilized to restore the situation quickly and that an investigation would be necessary to understand the attack fully.</p><p>The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the cyberattack, describing it as a "large-scale" incident affecting "connected refrigerators in several major food retailers across France." Carrefour reported that approximately 80 of its stores were impacted, while Monoprix, which operates 490 stores in France, indicated that 5% of its stores were affected.</p><p>Les Mousquetaires stated that refrigerators at around 150 of its stores were heated to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) for six hours, leading to the disposal of all affected food, according to Reuters.</p><p>While the financial impact on the supermarkets has not been officially calculated, experts estimate losses to exceed 10 million euros, approximately $11.2 million. Intermarche CEO Thierry Cotillard stated that the attack likely resulted in losses of "tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day," according to Reuters.</p><p>A source familiar with the refrigerator systems reportedly told AFP that the hackers targeted refrigerator control systems from Danish manufacturer Danfoss. Danfoss indicated that many of the affected products were "legacy" systems that no longer received software or security updates and that some were using outdated firmware.</p><p>Danfoss did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has instructed France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to conduct an investigation. ANSSI has identified "a vulnerability in software supplied by a Danish company and has contacted the vendor," a source close to Lecornu reportedly told AFP.</p><p>Christophe Hansen, the European Union's Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, condemned the attack, stating that food security requires more attention at all levels and that the weaponization of food has become a reality.</p><p>Fox News Digital contacted the Paris Prosecutor's Office, Carrefour, Monoprix, E. Leclerc, Les Mousquetaires, and Coopérative U for confirmation and additional comments.</p><p><em>Reuters contributed to this report.</em></p>