Hackers heat fridges in hundreds of French supermarkets via old Danfoss controllers
Representative image: Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay
A cyberattack on October 11-12, 2026 pushed supermarket fridges in France to about 50°C through outdated Danfoss controllers, spoiling food and causing fires; ANSSI is investigating.
What Happened
Hackers took control of refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets across France overnight from Sunday, October 11, to Monday, October 12, 2026, raising fridge and freezer temperatures to around 50°C, spoiling stock and in some cases causing fires. The attackers worked through older refrigeration controllers running Danfoss control software that no longer receives security updates, according to the Danish manufacturer and French officials. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has asked the national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, to investigate, and the Paris prosecutor's office has opened a criminal inquiry into what it called a large-scale attack on connected refrigerators at several major food retailers.
Key Facts
- The attackers triggered the controllers' built-in defrost function, which drove temperatures in cabinets up to about 50°C.
- Les Mousquetaires, owner of the Intermarché chain, said about 150 of its stores were affected, with fridges heated for around six hours. Other chains, including Coopérative U and E.Leclerc, were also named in reports.
- Affected stores were told to throw away all fresh and frozen products. Intermarché's chief executive put losses at tens of millions of euros nationwide in a single day.
- A spokesperson for the prime minister said ANSSI had identified a vulnerability in software supplied by Danfoss.
- Danfoss said it was aware of incidents affecting a limited number of refrigeration management systems and that the devices involved were old and no longer supported with security updates.
- The French retail federation FCD asked Danfoss for full transparency about the incident.
- No group has claimed responsibility, and the exact way the attackers got in has not been confirmed.
Why It Matters
Most cyberattacks on businesses steal data or lock computers for ransom. This one reached into the physical world. Modern supermarkets run their cold rooms, display cases and freezers from networked controllers so that engineers can monitor temperatures and fix faults remotely. That convenience creates a door. Once inside, the attackers did not need to break anything: they simply told the equipment to run a normal function at the wrong time, and the food did the rest.
The episode is a sharp lesson in what security specialists call operational technology, the systems that run machines rather than office software. Such equipment often stays in service for many years, outlives the vendor's support period, and sits on networks that were never designed with attackers in mind. Researchers had warned in August about a hidden authentication weakness in some Danfoss systems, according to reports, showing that known flaws can stay open in the field long after they are found.
For businesses, the cost goes well beyond the spoiled stock. Stores had to empty shelves, check food safety, repair equipment and deal with insurers, all at once and across a whole country. The incident also raises questions about who is responsible when an unsupported but still working device is abused: the manufacturer, the installer or the retailer that kept it connected.
The lesson travels well beyond France. Indian supermarket chains, quick-commerce dark stores, dairies and cold-chain warehouses are adding remote monitoring at speed, and many of the same controllers are used worldwide. An inventory of connected equipment, removal of unsupported devices from the internet and basic network separation are cheap compared with a day like France's.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Attack window | Night of October 11-12, 2026 |
| Systems used | Outdated Danfoss refrigeration controllers |
| Effect | Cabinets heated to about 50°C; food spoiled; some fires |
| Investigation | ANSSI and the Paris prosecutor's office |
Impact
Short-term: Affected French stores face empty fresh and frozen aisles, large stock write-offs and equipment checks. Retailers elsewhere in Europe are likely to audit their own refrigeration networks this week.
Long-term: Expect pressure on equipment makers to support devices for longer, on retailers to replace or isolate old controllers, and on regulators to treat building and refrigeration systems as critical to food supply.
Who is affected: French shoppers and supermarket staff, retailers and their insurers, Danfoss and other makers of connected building equipment, and any business that runs cold storage on networked controllers, including in India.
Key Takeaway
The French fridge attack shows that old, unsupported connected equipment can turn a cyber break-in into real-world losses, and every business running such systems should check its own.
Questions and Answers
What happened to French supermarkets on October 11-12, 2026?
Hackers took control of refrigeration controllers in hundreds of stores and triggered their defrost function, heating fridges and freezers to about 50°C, which spoiled food and caused some fires.
How did the attackers get in?
Officials and Danfoss say the attack used older Danfoss refrigeration control software that no longer receives security updates. France's cybersecurity agency says it found a vulnerability, but the exact access route has not been confirmed.
Who is investigating?
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu asked the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI to investigate, and the Paris prosecutor's office has opened a criminal inquiry.
What should businesses with connected refrigeration do?
List every networked controller, take unsupported devices off the internet or replace them, separate equipment networks from office systems, and set alerts for unusual temperature changes.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
Toothsi parent MakeO raises Rs 90 crore led by Singularity AMC for Asia clinics push
Nvidia opens Vera Rubin rack designs to OCP; Meta adopts its Spectrum-6 switches
Reported, fact-checked and published by the Peepals Global Editorial Team.
