Supermarket Fridges and Freezers in France Hacked

A cyber-attack on supermarket freezer temperature control systems across several grocery chains in France earlier this month has authorities speculating who was responsible, reports The Guardian.

In the middle of the night on October 11, hackers managed to remotely override the temperature settings on thousands of freezers, fridges and chiller cabinets pushing them from as low as -16.6F to well over 100F, causing the food to cook and spoil. In some stores, the rapid temperature rise sparked fires, triggering sprinklers and causing water damage.

As supermarket staff worked late to restock shelves after removing tons of spoiled food, it soon became clear that up to 700 stores – including those from the Intermarché, Coopérative U, Carrefour, Leclerc and Monoprix chains along with a number of smaller independent shops – had been victims of a widespread cyber-attack.

The Guardian says the Paris public prosecutor’s office immediately opened an investigation into the latest in a series of cyber-attacks that have made France the most hacked country in Europe, while cybersecurity experts speculated that it was either a group of young pranksters, or a foreign power.

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