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UK supermarkets warned after French cyber attack spoils food

Heraldscotland • October 13, 2026

Supermarkets have been warned to stay on high alert after a cyber attack caused hundreds of French stores' fridges and freezers to heat "up to 50 degrees," spoiling fresh and frozen food estimated to be worth millions of euros.

The attack saw hackers take over software that remotely controls refrigeration unit temperatures at stores nationwide.

Around 400 French supermarkets were impacted, including branches of Intermarché, Netto, Coopérative U, Carrefour, Monoprix and E.Leclerc, according to reports.

Managers arrived to find "a wave of hot air coming from freezers," and some locations reported small fires caused by overheating equipment.

Many chilled and frozen display units were taken out of service, leaving supermarkets scrambling to remove products, restock shelves and restore refrigeration systems.

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Retailers said they had disconnected some stores from the internet as a precaution, while staff and refrigeration engineers worked to recover systems and prevent further attacks. French broadcaster BFMTV published an image showing a freezer in an ice cream aisle set to 26.5C.

Some stores reported losses running into hundreds of thousands of euros, with nationwide losses expected to total millions of euros.

An online security expert has warned that stores this side of the channel should be on high alert over the cyber attack, saying that "distance offers little protection when criminals can reach vulnerable equipment remotely."

Marijus Briedis, Chief Technology Officer at NordVPN, responded to the cyber attack by saying it “should ring alarm bells in Britain."

He said: "If UK retailers use internet-connected refrigeration systems with similar security weaknesses, hackers could cause the same disruption here.

"There is no evidence British supermarkets have been affected by this incident, but distance offers little protection when criminals can reach vulnerable equipment remotely.

“Hackers don't need to get into the tills to cause havoc in a supermarket. Interfere with the equipment keeping food cold and you can force stores to throw away valuable stock, shut entire aisles and leave shoppers facing empty fridges and freezers.

"A cyberattack can quickly become a food safety problem, as well as a very expensive one for retailers.

“British supermarkets should be checking their connected refrigeration systems now, especially older equipment that may no longer receive security updates.

"Remote access needs to be tightly controlled, critical systems separated from the wider network and independent temperature alerts and manual checks in place. One vulnerable controller should not be allowed to put an entire store's chilled food at risk.”

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the hacking incident, which they called a "large-scale cyber-attack affecting the refrigerators of several major food retail chains across France".

European Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen condemned the hack in a post on X and added: "Food security requires more attention at all levels. Because the weaponization of food has become a reality."

Je condamne fermement la cyber attaque visant des produits alimentaires chez @intermarche @CooperativeU @Leclerc La sécurité alimentaire nécessite plus d’attention à tous les niveaux. Car l’instrumentalisation de l'alimentation est devenue une réalité. @UEFrance — Christophe Hansen (@CHansenEU) October 12, 2026

— Christophe Hansen (@CHansenEU) October 12, 2026

In a post on X, Coopérative chief executive Dominique Schelcher said staff were "fully mobilised, in co-ordination with refrigeration specialists, to restore the situation as quickly as possible".

He called for an investigation into the hack and said targeting equipment essential to the French food supply was "unacceptable".

The full story

This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Cyber Attack Heats French Supermarket Freezers, Spoiling Millions in Food Hackers remotely compromised temperature controls of refrigerators and freezers in hundreds of French supermarkets, raising temperatures to as high as 80C and spoiling food worth millions of euros. The Paris public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into this large-scale cyber attack, which affected major chains including Carrefour, Monoprix, and Intermarché. Initial reports indicate that between 400 and 700 stores were impacted, with some experiencing fires due to overheating equipment. The National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) is investigating vulnerabilities in software from the Danish company Danfoss, which reportedly had outdated firmware. Experts suggest that the attackers may have disabled alarm systems or extended defrost cycles to avoid detection. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the motive remains unclear. 2 sources 55

Extracted Entities

UK supermarkets warned after French cyber attack spoils food

The full story

Extracted Entities

Attack Types (1)

Companies (6)

Countries (2)

Industries (1)

MITRE ATT&CK (1)