Hackers Overheated a Supermarket’s Freezers, Leaving $112,000 in Food Lost—and the Director Keeps Asking Why

A morning refrigeration failure

At 5 a.m., the store’s baker called Julien Fréret, director of Intermarché La Haye-du-Puits, and warned him about a serious refrigeration problem. Staff searched for the cause, restarted the system and called an on-call technician.

At about 7 a.m., Danfoss, whose software monitors the refrigeration system, emailed the store to report a cyberattack. By then, the system had failed, and there was nowhere to preserve the affected food.

Temperatures ruined the stock

The store discarded about 30 cubic meters of food, described as a skip and a half, worth about $112,000. That figure did not include equipment damage; the refrigeration fans melted.

Food could not be donated

He said he had never seen an attack on food like this before. Meanwhile, staff returned that afternoon to clean the refrigerators, and he praised the team for working together.

Store changes and restocking

The store disconnected the refrigeration software from the internet. It still monitors refrigerator and freezer temperatures locally, but staff can no longer check them remotely and must be at the store.

Restocking had begun, and the supermarket was about 60% stocked. Fréret said they hoped to be fully operational by Friday.