Hundreds of major stores in France were hit by a wide-scale cyberattack targeting cooling control systems, causing temperatures inside refrigerators to rise and damaging large quantities of fresh and frozen products. The attack occurred on Monday morning, raising questions about the security of digital infrastructure linked to food supplies.
Attack Details and Damages
The attack targeted cooling control systems manufactured by the Danish company Danfoss, which are used by stores belonging to Intermarché, Netto, Coopérative U, Carrefour, Monoprix, and Leclerc chains. Hackers remotely manipulated cooling settings and triggered the defrost system intensively and continuously, causing temperatures inside some equipment to reach 50 degrees Celsius.
Initial estimates indicate that around 300 Intermarché and Netto stores were affected, along with approximately 100 Coopérative U stores, 80 Carrefour stores, and other stores from various groups. The losses were not merely a temporary technical glitch; stores were forced to dispose of fresh and frozen products that had lost safe storage conditions, with losses reaching around 50,000 euros in some stores.
Official Investigations
In this context, French authorities have tasked the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) with following up on the case, while the Paris public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation assigned to the cybercrime fighting office. The investigation aims to identify the perpetrators and assess the extent of damages and losses, amid a rapid French government response to deal with the repercussions.
For its part, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the attack's repercussions extended beyond commercial losses estimated in the millions, highlighting the growing risks of cyberattacks that have become capable of causing direct physical damage to supply chains and food security.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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