French PM Lecornu Orders Probe After 'Unprecedented' Cyberattack Heats Supermarket Fridges to 50°C

Hackers targeted hundreds of French supermarkets, raising refrigerator and freezer temperatures to 50°C (122°F), spoiling thousands of food products. Fires were also reported in some stores.

The Paris prosecutor's office described it as a 'large-scale' attack, prompting Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to order the National Cybersecurity Agency to investigate the matter. France is also coordinating with European counterparts amid concerns that other countries could be affected.

'400 Supermarkets' Affected

Some 400 stores reportedly fell victim to the hacking, according to reports from individual supermarket chains. Les Mousquetaires, which owns Intermarché, said fridges in around 150 of its stores were heated to 50°C for six hours overnight.

Carrefour said 80 of its supermarkets were hit, while Monoprix reported that 5% of its approximately 490 stores experienced an increase in refrigeration temperatures. In most cases, the affected food was discarded to eliminate health risks.

Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Coopérative U, a major French retail cooperative of independent hypermarkets and supermarkets, also said that many of its stores were affected.

'Our teams are fully mobilized, in coordination with refrigeration specialists, to restore the situation as quickly as possible. An investigation will be necessary to shed full light on this attack,' he said on social media.

'Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products and to the food supply of the French people is of extreme gravity and is unprecedented. It is unacceptable,' he also said.

Les Mousquetaires told BBC that it has 'taken all necessary precautions to remove the products from these units.' It also said that it directed staff from affected supermarkets to restock their shelves as soon as possible.

Refrigeration Management System

Initial investigations identified a vulnerability in software supplied by Danfoss, a Danish manufacturer of refrigeration management equipment. According to reports, the affected systems included legacy units running outdated firmware that no longer received security updates.

'We are working with affected customers to implement appropriate mitigation measures, including firmware updates where available, stronger network protections and removing direct internet exposure where applicable,' Danfoss said in a statement.

The company said supported products receive regular firmware and security updates. No attacker or motive has been publicly identified.

'Reliable refrigeration is critical to our customers' operations, and we remain committed to supporting our customers and helping them maintain secure and reliable systems they are used to,' Danfoss also said.

Why Fridge Temperature Matters

Refrigerated items have a 'two-hour' rule, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 'Foods that require refrigeration should be put in the refrigerator as soon as you get them home. Stick to the "two-hour rule" for leaving items needing refrigeration out at room temperature,' the FDA stated.

Items such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and fresh produce, as well as other products that require refrigeration, should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours. If the air temperature is above 90°F (approximately 32°C), the limit drops to one hour.

Refrigeration systems are crucial to keeping perishable food safe, and a prolonged loss of temperature control can lead to significant food waste and financial losses for retailers.