Hundreds of supermarkets in France hit by ‘unprecedented’ cyberattack

Cyberattack on French supermarkets causes fires, millions in losses. By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters.

Key points

• Felix ⁠Aime, a senior cyberthreat intelligence analyst at Sekoia Threat Detection and Research, informed Reuters that Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium had additionally been affected.
• At least 300 shops of Intermarche or its Netto brand were targeted, along with more than 100 Cooperative U outlets, the retailers informed the AFP news agency.
• While Monoprix stated regarding 5 percent of its roughly 490 stores were hit, carrefour remarked 80 supermarkets were affected.
• The attack prompted Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to order France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate, a person in his office informed the Reuters news agency.
• Top retailers Intermarche, Cooperative U, E Leclerc and others confirmed the "unprecedented" cyberattack on Monday.

Meanwhile, a cyberattack on refrigeration systems at hundreds of supermarkets in France has raised the temperature of fridges and freezers to as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122F), spoiling food and causing fires at a number of stores.

While Monoprix stated regarding 5 percent of its roughly 490 stores were hit, carrefour remarked 80 supermarkets were affected. E Leclerc remarked a number of of its stores were targeted.

For context, the Paris prosecutor's office remarked the "large-scale" ⁠attack had affected "connected refrigerators in several major food retailers across France". It led to food losses and fires, the office remarked.

In practice, the attack prompted Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to order France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate, a person in his office informed the Reuters news agency.

For context, the source remarked France was coordinating with European counterparts as other countries could additionally be affected, adding that authorities were assessing whether other French businesses were at risk.

There was no immediate estimate of industry-wide losses, but Intermarche CEO Thierry Cotillard informed BFM TV the "unprecedented" attack would represent losses amounting to "tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day".

According to BFM TV, the hackers "managed to remotely trigger the forced defrosting of the refrigeration systems in numerous stores". The action resulted in the "destruction of stocks of fresh and frozen products", it remarked.

Intermarche informed AFP that affected stores would have to "throw away all of the products" that were fresh or frozen.

Dominique Schelcher, chief executive of Cooperative U, remarked the attack had disrupted refrigeration systems since Sunday night.

"Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products and to the food supply of the French individuals is extremely serious and is unprecedented. It is unacceptable, " he wrote on X.

He remarked the company's teams were working to restore normal operations as swiftly as feasible, and that an investigation would be needed to "shed full light on this attack".

Supermarket cold aisles are typically run by control ⁠panels that manage an entire store's fridges and freezers and can be accessed over the internet. It lets maintenance firms adjust them from anywhere.

Meanwhile, the ⁠source close to Lecornu remarked ANSSI had identified a vulnerability in software supplied by Danish business Danfoss.

Danfoss remarked it was "aware of incidents in France affecting a limited number of refrigeration management systems".

Notably, the affected units "were running outdated firmware", the firm stated, adding that it had "long advised customers" to keep their systems updated and replace older equipment. 'A global wake-up call'.

For context, the attack came after cybersecurity firm Claroty published research on August 9 describing vulnerabilities in Danfoss systems that could allow attackers to bypass authentication.

France's retail federation, known as the FCD, called on Danfoss to provide "full transparency". It remarked some affected stores were already operating again.

Though it was rare in its scale, steven Lachance, a cybersecurity analyst, informed Al Jazeera the attack was not unprecedented. He remarked that once a vulnerability is identified in internet-connected equipment, cyber-attackers can log in remotely and trigger its features.

"We have connected infrastructure that is live on the internet, and that can be hacked. It's a new reality, " he said, describing the attack as "a global wake-up call".

"We absolutely need national and international measures to prevent these attacks, because otherwise it's just going to keep happening, " he remarked.

While retailers had lost millions of euros in food, the next target could be worse, Lachance cautioned. "It could target energy infrastructure or hospitals, " he remarked.

For now, hundreds of supermarkets in France hit by 'unprecedented' cyberattack remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.