PARIS: Cyberattacks have disrupted European supermarket chains, causing refrigeration systems to overheat at hundreds of stores in France and forcing a major grocer to shut down websites serving customers in Europe and the United States.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told Parliament on Tuesday that about 700 of the country's 10,000 supermarkets were affected. He said there was no risk to France's food supplies but acknowledged that the attack "touches the heart of our food security."
"It was a wake-up call for everyone," he said.
The Paris prosecutor's office said Tuesday that its cybercrime unit was investigating the large-scale attack, including the extent of damage caused by spoiled food and possible fires.
Dominique Schelcher, CEO of French grocery chain Cooperative U, said 80 of the company's 2,000 stores were affected. Most managed to prevent disruptions to refrigeration, but some had to discard food, he said in a post on X.
"Targeting equipment essential to the preservation of fresh products is an attack on the French food supply chain. It is unprecedented, extremely serious, and unacceptable," Schelcher said.
Danish technology company Danfoss, which supplied the refrigeration management software, said Monday that most affected systems were older products that no longer received software or security updates.
"Danfoss has long advised customers to keep supported systems updated with the latest firmware, as well as to operate behind a firewall," the company said.
Danfoss said it was working with affected customers to limit the damage.
Separately, Dutch supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize said Tuesday it was working to restore systems it had shut down following what it described as a security issue. The company, which operates Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, Delhaize in Belgium and Stop & Shop in the United States, declined to provide further details.
Websites for several of its brands, including Stop & Shop, Food Lion and Albert Heijn, remained offline Tuesday, although stores were open and serving customers.
Ahold Delhaize said it had no evidence that customer or employee data had been stolen.
"Protecting our infrastructure in the best interest of our customers, associates and partners is a top priority," the company said. "We apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused customers and partners."
