PARIS, October 12, 2026 — A cyberattack on connected refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets sent temperatures in some units as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), forcing retailers to discard fresh and frozen food and prompting a criminal investigation.
The Paris prosecutor’s office described a large-scale attack affecting refrigeration systems at several major food retailers and said investigators were examining reports of food losses and fires. The cause of individual fires and the full extent of the damage remain under investigation.
Les Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarché and Netto, told Reuters around 150 stores were affected, with some fridges heated to 50°C for about six hours. Carrefour said 80 supermarkets were affected. Coopérative U also confirmed disruption. Store counts are preliminary and vary by retailer and reporting time.
French cybersecurity agency CERT-FR issued an October 12 alert warning of numerous compromises involving Danfoss AK-SM and AK-SC refrigeration-management systems. It recommended restricting network access and, where compromise is suspected, resetting devices, applying patches, rotating credentials and reviewing accounts. Danfoss said affected units were running outdated firmware, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu instructed France’s national cybersecurity agency ANSSI to investigate, according to Reuters. Officials are examining whether other European countries may be affected; no common perpetrator or wider cross-border connection has been established publicly.
What is not yet known
Authorities have not identified the attackers, confirmed the full intrusion pathway, or issued a final count of affected stores and financial losses. Reports of a separate cybersecurity incident at Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize should not be treated as connected without evidence.
