As early as October 11 to 12, 2026, several supermarket chains in France suffered a cyber attack against their refrigerators and freezers. Attackers upset refrigeration systems to heat instead of cold, setting some equipment to 50 degrees and many stores had to throw out their merchandise.
Hundreds of shops were damaged. Chain confirmed to AFP that the attack affected hundreds of institutions, including Intermarche, Nato, E. Leclerc and Cooperative U. The stores used refrigeration equipment from a Danish manufacturer, identified as Danfoss, and Cooperative U’s general director, Dominik Shelcher, described the attack as unprecedented and extremely serious.
The tool has not been updated. And how did they get in? Well, Danfoss explained to the same company that most of the affected equipment is older models that no longer receive security updates, and some run on outdated firmware. However, he did not give details about the exact route used by the attackers.
discovered after opening. Because everything happened in the early morning, no one noticed until opening time, when some chambers and freezers were already at temperatures more typical of the tropics. A supermarket in Alsace estimated its losses at 220,000 euros and NOS estimated the national bill to be many millions. According to the Reuters agency, the companies did not give figures, although the CEO of Intermarche, Thierry Cotillard, spoke to BFM TV of millions of euros.
emergency meeting. According to the same French media, on the morning of October 12, Danfoss merged the supermarket and refrigeration companies. And the French Cyber Security Agency (ANSSI) has contacted the manufacturer and started looking into other affected companies, according to AFP.
The attack also coincided with a cyber security incident at Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall in the Netherlands. There, the delivery of electronic price tags and online orders failed, as explained by NOS Albert Heijn, and the incident also affected Delhaize’s Belgian stores. But Ahold Delhaize, its parent company, assured Reuters there was no reason to link the two incidents.
Picture | Brittany Burns
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