Fridges in French supermarkets hit by cyber attack

Hundreds of French supermarkets have been hit by a cyber attack that caused their fridges and freezers to heat up, spoiling fresh and frozen food estimated to be worth millions of euros.

Key points

• Two supermarkets in the Alsace region documented losses of €270, 000 (£228, 000) between them, the broadcaster went on, meaning the nationwide total could run into the millions.
• While at least 300 stores from Intermarché and its Netto brand were affected, according to the AFP news agency, more than 100 of the chain's supermarkets were targeted.
• Hackers reportedly gained control of the software that regulates the temperatures of the refrigeration units, forcing some to warm to 50C (120F) overnight.
• Eoropean Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen condemned the hack in a post on X and continued: Food security requires more attention at all levels.
• French broadcaster BFMTV published an image showing a freezer in an ice cream aisle displaying a temperature of 26.5C.

Notably, the chief executive of Coopérative U remarked a number of of its supermarkets had been hit by the "extremely serious and unprecedented" attack.

Intermarché remarked its fridges had heated up to 50C for six hours overnight into Monday, and the retailer had thrown away all the affected food to avoid health risks, the Reuters news agency noted.

Some supermarket staff reportedly remarked they were hit by waves of hot air when they opened freezer units on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, the Paris prosecutor's office informed AFP it had opened an investigation into the incident. It it called a "large-scale cyber-attack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France".

Eoropean Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen condemned the hack in a post on X and continued: "Food security requires more attention at all levels. Since the weaponisation of food has become a reality." The full scale of the attack is so far unclear.

Reports in specialist retail and local media remarked stores from other food giants, including Carrefour, E.Leclerc and Monoprix, were additionally attacked. BBC News has approached the supermarket chains for comment.

In a post on X, Coopérative chief executive Dominique Schelcher remarked staff were "fully mobilised, in co-ordination with refrigeration specialists, to restore the situation as quickly as possible".

He pressed an investigation into the hack and stated targeting equipment essential to the French food supply was "unacceptable".

In short, fridges in French supermarkets hit by cyber attack is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.