Cyberattack Pushes Supermarket Fridge Temperatures Up at Hundreds of French Stores

Overnight between Sunday and Monday, a cyberattack remotely triggered the forced defrosting of refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets, pushing the temperature inside some fridges and freezers as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarche, and Cooperative U are among the chains affected, according to multiple outlets.

The attack targeted Danfoss AK-SM and AK-SC series control units, widely used across French retail to manage refrigeration in fresh food aisles and storage areas. CERT-FR, the government incident response center run by cybersecurity agency ANSSI, issued an alert on Monday, CERTFR-2026-ALE-012, reporting numerous compromises of these devices.

The temperature spikes sparked fires in several stores and forced retailers to discard all fresh and frozen products exposed to the attack. Les Mousquetaires, the group that runs Intermarche and Netto, estimated the losses at several million euros.

The Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation on Monday to try to identify those responsible and determine the exact method used, as the incident renews questions about the security of connected industrial equipment used across French retail.

This account draws on reporting by CNN.