Hackers turn up the heat in refrigerators at hundreds of supermarkets in France, sparking fires and food losses

Major French supermarket chains on Monday said they were hit by a cyberattack that caused their refrigerators to shoot up in temperature in hundreds of stores, forcing spoiled food to be thrown away and raising concerns about food security.

"Food security requires more attention at all levels," said the EU's food and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen on X, condemning the attack and saying such "exploitation of food" was now a "reality."

"Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products and to the food supply of the French people is of extreme gravity and is unprecedented," Cooperative U CEO Dominique Schelcher wrote on X.

BFM TV said hackers "managed to remotely trigger the forced defrosting of the refrigeration systems in numerous stores."

The affected branches will have to "throw away all of the products" that are fresh and frozen, Intermarché told AFP.

E. Leclerc confirmed to AFP "that a cyberattack affected one of its refrigeration equipment suppliers," resulting in "repercussions on the operation of refrigeration systems in several stores."

Danfoss told AFP in a statement that most of the affected equipment was "legacy" products which "no longer receive software or security updates."

Dutch supermarket operator Ahold Delhaize, which also has operations in the United States, said it was also dealing with a "security issue" in its network, Reuters reported. A phone app for the retailer told clients that due to a "cybersecurity incident" it was unable to deliver groceries.

A person close to French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said France's cybersecurity agency had already identified "a vulnerability in software supplied by a Danish company and has contacted the vendor."

The office of the Paris prosecutor confirmed to AFP that an investigation has been opened into "the large-scale cyberattack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France."

Intermarché condemned the food waste and financial losses resulting from the attack, without providing figures.

President Emmanuel Macron, a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion, last month ordered measures to protect France's critical infrastructure from Russian "hybrid attacks."