Cyberattack on Supermarket Refrigeration Systems in France: What We Know

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By TRH Explainer Desk

A cyberattack that overheated fridges and freezers has hit hundreds of French supermarkets, forcing stores to throw out food.

New Delhi, October 14, 2026 — Overnight from Sunday to Monday, October 12, refrigeration systems at several hundred Intermarché and Système U supermarkets were hacked, and the retailers said they had to discard food. The attack caused a sudden rise in fridge and freezer temperatures, emptying shelves and destroying thousands of euros of goods. Stores of Système U, Intermarché and E.Leclerc were among those affected.

The count has varied. In a LinkedIn alert, Vincent Strubel, director general of France’s cybersecurity agency ANSSI, cited about 500 supermarkets, including around 300 Intermarché and Netto stores and 100 Coopérative U stores. A figure of about 700 stores is circulating in international coverage and is attributed to Finance Minister Roland Lescure.

The target was not checkouts or customer data but the machines that keep food cold. The hackers remotely reached the refrigeration control systems of Danish manufacturer Danfoss, then those of Dixell, took control of thermostats and changed the temperatures of connected fridges and freezers. ANSSI’s alert named Danfoss AK-SM and AK-SC cold controllers.

Le Monde reported that overnight from Monday to Tuesday, businesses equipped with Dixell hardware were targeted and temperatures rose dangerously, in a pattern resembling the previous day’s attacks. According to France 3 Régions, a Leclerc store in the Tarn lost its cold chain on Tuesday morning and had to empty and throw away all its goods. The store was fitted with Dixell equipment, and Dixell had not confirmed that it was targeted.

The financial damage is already visible. Two Intermarché stores in Haguenau told France Inter they had lost 270,000 euros of goods. The Paris prosecutor’s office also said fires occurred.

Experts disagree. Franceinfo calls the hack “pas si sophistiqué que ça” (not that sophisticated). Cybersecurity specialist Marta Rybczynska told Sud Ouest that the attackers exploited known flaws. Another expert quoted by the same outlet argued that hitting hundreds of devices at once shows a degree of sophistication.

The attack has not been claimed, and the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation on its own initiative. The inquiry aims to identify victims and establish the link with the reported damage, including food losses and fires.

Why connected refrigerators are a weak spot: The prosecutor’s wording is telling: it refers to “connected refrigerators.” Internet-linked controllers let operators manage temperatures remotely, but a flaw or weak configuration offers an attacker the same remote access. The analysis in Solutions Numériques points to the equipment supplier as a link in the chain that needs better oversight.