Cyberattack Heats French Supermarket Fridges to 50°C

A large-scale cyberattack shut down connected refrigeration systems at several major French supermarket chains overnight from Sunday, October 11, to Monday, October 12, 2026. Refrigeration units heated up, spoiling food and causing fires at the affected stores, and the Paris prosecutor's office is investigating the attack.

The significance of the scale is that the attack has spoiled food at hundreds of stores and caused large-scale retail losses, with retailers forced to throw away the affected goods. Les Mousquetaires – the retail group which owns Intermarché – said that units at around 150 stores were heated to 50°C for six hours, and that all affected foods had been thrown away to eliminate any health risks.

French Supermarket Chains Affected by the Cyberattack

Early estimates of the impact varied, with AFP reporting that at least 300 Intermarché or Netto shops and more than 100 Coopérative U outlets were targeted at the same time, but Reuters separately citing about 150 affected Intermarché-group stores and Carrefour confirming 80 affected supermarkets. Monoprix said 5% of its approximately 490 stores in France were affected, but the retailers had not given a consolidated estimate of the overall industry losses.

Investigation Points to a Potential Refrigeration Software Vulnerability

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) to investigate the breach. A source close to the government said ANSSI had identified a vulnerability in software supplied by Danfoss and contacted the manufacturer, but no reports confirmed that it had been exploited. Danfoss said that most of the affected equipment comprised legacy products that no longer received software or security updates, but did not disclose how many systems had been affected.

Financial Losses and What Investigators Still Need to Establish

Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard estimated losses at “tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day.” The number of stores affected, the total financial damage and the attackers' identity still remain unclear, and the ongoing investigation on the breach's cause and scope should receive the necessary attention.

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