Hundreds of supermarkets across France have fallen victim to a sophisticated cyber attack that intentionally disabled refrigeration controls, causing fridges and freezers to heat up and destroying millions of euros worth of fresh and frozen food.
Refrigeration Software Compromised
Hackers managed to infiltrate and gain unauthorized control over the software systems responsible for regulating commercial cooling units. This malicious intervention forced several units to warm up dramatically, reaching temperatures as high as 50C (120F) overnight. Store employees reported being greeted by intense waves of hot air when opening freezer doors on Monday morning, while local media broadcasts captured images of ice cream aisle displays showing temperatures reading 26.5C.
Widespread Impact Across Major Retail Chains
Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher described the incident as an extremely serious and unprecedented cyber breach. Nearly 100 stores belonging to the Coopérative U chain were targeted in the operation. Simultaneously, between 150 and 200 Intermarché supermarkets suffered similar disruptions across the country. Intermarché confirmed that its refrigeration units remained heated to 50C for six consecutive hours overnight into Monday, forcing management to discard all affected inventory to eliminate any potential public health risks.
Substantial Financial Losses and Investigations
The financial fallout from the spoiled inventory is mounting rapidly. Two separate supermarkets located in the Alsace region reported combined losses totaling €270,000 (£228,000), suggesting that total nationwide damages will easily run into the millions of euros. Prosecutors in Paris have officially confirmed the cyber attack and noted that the extreme temperature spikes even triggered localized fire outbreaks in some cooling systems.
Broader Retail Sector Vulnerabilities
While the full scope of the security breach remains under investigation, specialist retail publications and local media outlets indicated that stores belonging to other major French food giants, including Carrefour, E.Leclerc, and Monoprix, were also targeted. Writing in a post on X, Coopérative chief executive Dominique Schelcher emphasized that staff were fully mobilized alongside refrigeration specialists to restore normal operations as quickly as possible, while demanding a thorough investigation into an attack targeting critical food supply infrastructure.
