Cyberattack heats French supermarket refrigerators, spoiling food and causing fires
publishers 11articles 11first reported 12 Oct, 14:04 UTCdeveloping since 12 Oct · 11 editions
Hackers remotely forced refrigerators and freezers at several hundred French supermarkets to heat up overnight, spoiling food and causing some fires, French authorities and retailers said Monday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened a cybercrime investigation into what it called a large-scale attack on connected refrigeration systems at several major food retailers. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also directed France’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, to investigate and coordinate with European counterparts.
Les Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarché, said about 150 stores were affected, with some refrigeration units reaching 50C for six hours. The company discarded food from affected units to avoid health risks. More than 100 Coopérative U supermarkets were targeted, while Carrefour reported that 80 of its roughly 6,000 French stores were hit. According to the BBC, Monoprix said about 5% of its more than 400 stores were affected. Some refrigeration units remained out of service Monday afternoon as retailers removed potentially unsafe products and worked to restock shelves.
The attack targeted refrigeration-management software supplied by Danish engineering company Danfoss. Danfoss said the affected systems were running outdated firmware and that it had previously advised customers to update supported equipment or replace older systems.
Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize separately took systems offline during a security incident that disrupted apps, deliveries and some electronic price displays in the Netherlands and Belgium. Authorities had not established a link between that disruption and the French attack.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 4 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one (6 if wire copies count as one too); this version written within the hour the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 11
- Source articles
- 11
- Given to the writer
- 8, 4 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8 (6 if wire copies count as one)
- This version written
- within the hour the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: The story needs attribution and one chain-detail correction to match the supplied reporting. - "Les Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarché and Netto, said about 150 stores were affected": BBC says at least 300 Intermarché and Netto stores were affected, while the source supporting about 150 only refers to Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché stores; including Netto with 150 is misleading. - "Coopérative U said more than 100 of its supermarkets were targeted": The provided sources attribute the 'more than 100' figure to BBC/AFP, not to Coopérative U directly. - "Monoprix said about 5% of its more than 400 stores were affected.": The provided sources attribute this statement to BBC, not directly to Monoprix.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Cyberattack heats French supermarket refrigerators, spoiling food and causing fires
Hackers remotely forced refrigerators and freezers at several hundred French supermarkets to heat up overnight, spoiling food and causing some fires, French authorities and retailers said Monday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened a cybercrime investigation into what it called a large-scale attack on connected refrigeration systems at several major food retailers. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also directed France’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, to investigate and coordinate with European counterparts.
Les Mousquetaires, owner of Intermarché and Netto,Intermarché, said about 150 stores were affected, with some refrigeration units reaching 50C for six hours. The company discarded food from affected units to avoid health risks. Coopérative U said moreMore than 100 ofCoopérative itsU supermarkets were targeted, while Carrefour reported that 80 of its roughly 6,000 French stores were hit. According to the BBC, Monoprix said about 5% of its more than 400 stores were affected. Some refrigeration units remained out of service Monday afternoon as retailers removed potentially unsafe products and worked to restock shelves.
The attack targeted refrigeration-management software supplied by Danish engineering company Danfoss. Danfoss said the affected systems were running outdated firmware and that it had previously advised customers to update supported equipment or replace older systems.
Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize separately took systems offline during a security incident that disrupted apps, deliveries and some electronic price displays in the Netherlands and Belgium. Authorities had not established a link between that disruption and the French attack.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →