Attackers Heat French Supermarket Fridges Up to 50°C by Hijacking Danfoss Controllers

On the night of October 11, attackers remotely took over refrigeration controllers made by Danfoss at hundreds of supermarkets across France, pushing fridge and freezer temperatures as high as 50°C and forcing chains to discard spoiled food. The intrusions hit Danfoss's AK-SM and AK-SC controller lines, which manage cooling systems and can be administered remotely by maintenance firms; Les Mousquetaires (Intermarché, Netto), Coopérative U and Carrefour all reported affected stores, with Les Mousquetaires estimating losses in the tens of millions of euros. France's CERT-FR has urged operators to disconnect these controllers from the internet or tightly restrict access, noting that many compromised units were older, now-unsupported models like the AK-SM 800 and AK-SC 355, while some current AK-SM 800A devices running outdated firmware were also affected. Neither Danfoss nor French authorities have disclosed the exact vulnerability or attacker identity, though a government source mentioned ANSSI identified a flaw in the vendor's software and separate reports suggest similar incidents in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Belgium; a Paris prosecutorial inquiry is now underway.