Massive cyberattack on French supermarkets causes food losses and fires
What's the story
A massive cyberattack has hit several hundred supermarkets across France, causing major disruptions and damage. The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed that the attack targeted connected refrigerators in multiple major food retailers. The incident has resulted in reported cases of "food losses and fires." Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has asked France's national cybersecurity agency ANSSI to investigate the attack.
Impact assessment
Attack on refrigeration systems
The cyberattack has impacted several major French supermarket chains, including Intermarche, Cooperative U, Carrefour, and E.Leclerc.
Reports suggest that the hackers remotely activated the defrost functions of these stores' refrigeration systems or raised temperatures to as high as 50 degree Celsius for hours.
This caused a massive loss of perishable food items such as meat, fish, dairy products, produce, and ice cream.
Damage control
Huge amount of food waste
The cyberattack led to a huge amount of food waste for the affected stores. In some cases, the overheating equipment even caused fires.
Les Mousquetaires, which owns the retailer Intermarche, said about 150 of its stores were hit, while Cooperative U said that its stores were affected by the attack.
Attack strategy
Hackers didn't steal customer data
Notably, the hackers didn't steal credit card numbers or customer data. Their sole aim was to mess with the temperature settings of vital equipment.
This kind of disruption can easily cripple a supply chain and make meat, fish, dairy products, and frozen food unsafe in just one night.
France's cyber defense agency (ANSSI) has launched an investigation into this attack and alerted European partners about it.
Investigation focus
Investigation underway
The initial signs point to the supermarket control systems running old, outdated software for fridges and freezers.
However, there is no official word on who pulled this off or whether every affected store had exactly the same vulnerability.
The attack has raised alarms over the potential havoc that cyberattacks can wreak in all sectors of Europe.