From the street, nothing looks wrong. The lights are on, the tills work, but inside the display cases the temperature climbs. According to The Record, citing French broadcaster BFMTV, that is what happened at hundreds of French supermarkets after a cyberattack overnight on Sunday 11 October 2026. The attackers reportedly triggered the defrost function on the refrigeration units remotely, and fresh food spoiled.
The chains hit are Intermarché and Netto, owned by Groupement Mousquetaires, with about 300 stores, and Coopérative U, with fewer than 100. Coopérative U chief executive Dominique Schelcher confirmed the attack affected cold-production equipment at several stores and said his teams were “fully mobilised” with refrigeration specialists.
The controllers involved are made by Danish manufacturer Danfoss. BFMTV reports the attackers targeted older software versions. Groupement Mousquetaires said Danfoss manages the systems and that the supplier would file any criminal complaint. Danfoss has not publicly confirmed it was the target and did not immediately comment. France’s cybersecurity agency ANSSI said it was mobilised nationally and with European counterparts.
No group has claimed responsibility and the report names no attacker.
There is a technical precedent, though nothing shows it is connected. In 2025 the US agency CISA published an advisory on three vulnerabilities in Danfoss refrigeration controllers. Claroty’s Team82 later showed a compromised controller could switch off cooling while reporting normal temperatures, and counted more than 2,700 devices exposed to the internet. It is not known whether those flaws were used this time.
The episode shows how real the cold chain is as a target. No data theft is needed, only a few degrees for one night. For grocers running on thin margins, the damage is discarded stock before the doors open. The story is still developing and rests on a single news source relaying BFMTV.
