On the night of Sunday 12 October, the refrigeration and freezer systems in hundreds of French supermarkets were hacked. The hackers took control of the software that regulates the temperature in refrigerated display cabinets and freezers, and raised it for several hours to as high as 50 degrees Celsius. The result was massive spoilage of fresh and frozen food.
Among the hardest-hit chains are Intermarché (including Netto), Coopérative U (Super U), Carrefour, E.Leclerc and Monoprix. The shops were forced to throw away tonnes of food, and losses are estimated at several million euros. In several cases, the overheating led to near-fires.
Hybrid warfare against people’s everyday lives
The attack has been described as ‘unprecedented’ by industry leaders. It targeted critical systems supplied by the Danish manufacturer Danfoss and exploited, amongst other things, older software that no longer receives security updates.
Critical infrastructure – energy supply (power grids, substations and district heating), water and wastewater management systems, food supply, transport and logistics (ports, railways and warehouse management), the healthcare sector, telecoms, financial systems – are increasingly digitised and therefore vulnerable to attack.
Attacks of this nature can be carried out by state actors, criminals or ideologically motivated hackers without necessarily requiring significant resources – and they directly affect the civilian population.
A severe cyberattack on supermarket freezers has left behind massive amounts of spoiled food.
A major cybersecurity breach targeting Danfoss’s internet-connected refrigeration software has devastated hundreds of French supermarkets. Hackers remotely manipulated the climate control… pic.twitter.com/fkWMLBFC9A
— Cybernews (@Cybernews) 13 October 2026
The attack on the food supply coincides with ongoing social unrest. France and Belgium have recently experienced riots, clashes, vandalism and attacks on the police and public property, driven by the violent far-left in alliance with Islamofascist groups.
Although, at least for the time being, no link has been established between the attack on the food supply and these groups, the events illustrate the pressure our societies are under, both from outside and from within.
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Although no link has been established with the attack on French supermarket chains, reports indicate that ‘cybersecurity incidents’ have, since Sunday, caused significant operational disruptions at the Dutch chains Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall, as well as at the Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize.
NEW: 🇳🇱 A cybersecurity incident has now disrupted Dutch supermarket giant Albert Heijn, following a major cyberattack affecting supermarket refrigeration systems in France.
Albert Heijn, along with Etos and Gall & Gall, has experienced significant IT disruptions since Sunday… pic.twitter.com/gF3QmbQRqx
— GeoInsider (@InsiderGeo) 12 October 2026
