A cyberattack in France set my supermarket freezers to 122F. Losing $112,000 in food was heartbreaking.
A supermarket director in Normandy, France, reports losing $112,000 worth of food after a cyberattack compromised the store's refrigeration software. The attack, which affected hundreds of stores, remotely set freezer temperatures to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
Why it matters
This incident highlights the growing vulnerability of critical infrastructure and supply chains to remote cyberattacks.
Julien Fréret, the director of Intermarché La Haye-du-Puits in Normandy, France. Courtesy of Julien Fréret Julien Fréret is the director of an Intermarché supermarket in Normandy, France. He said a cyberattack caused temperatures to spike across the store's refrigeration system. Fréret said the shop had to throw away around 30 cubic meters of food, worth about $112,000. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Julien Fréret, the director of Intermarché La Haye-du-Puits in Normandy, France. On Monday, a cyberattack affected refrigeration systems at hundreds of French supermarkets. Fréret spoke to Business Insider on Wednesday. The following has been translated from French and edited for length and clarity. Monday began like any other day at our supermarket. But at 5 a.m., our baker arrived and called us and said: "I think you need to come. There’s a big, big, big problem with the refrigeration."
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