Not cool: who hacked France’s supermarket fridges?
A cyber-attack on French supermarkets remotely manipulated refrigeration systems, causing temperatures to spike and resulting in significant food spoilage. The incident, which caused fires and water damage in some locations, is currently under investigation to determine if it was the work of malicious hackers or state-sponsored sabotage.
Why it matters
This event highlights the growing vulnerability of critical infrastructure and IoT-connected commercial systems to remote cyber-attacks.
Packages of perished goods piled outside an Intermarché store in Paris the day after a cyber-attack targeted refrigeration and freezer systems. Packages of perished goods piled outside an Intermarché store in Paris the day after a cyber-attack targeted refrigeration and freezer systems. France Not cool: who hacked France’s supermarket fridges? Whether it was youngsters proving their skills or state sabotage, Europe’s most hacked country was left with a mountain of waste after food began cooking in freezers
Prefer the Guardian on Google Shortly before midnight last Sunday, the digital thermostats controlling hundreds of supermarket cold aisles across France began to flicker and rise.
In a “bizarre and unprecedented” cyber-attack, hackers had remotely overridden the temperature settings on thousands of freezers, fridges and chiller cabinets pushing them from as low as -27C (-16.6F) to well over 50C (122F).
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