Overview
- The campaign began Sunday night when attackers remotely triggered prolonged defrost cycles that heated refrigerated cabinets to about 50°C, spoiling fresh and frozen food and forcing mass disposal.
- French authorities say hundreds of stores were hit and the Paris public prosecutor has opened an investigation while CERT‑FR and vendors report compromised Danfoss AK‑SM and AK‑SC units plus Copeland/Dixell XWEB controllers.
- Retailers in the Netherlands reported related IT outages that disrupted websites, price displays and home deliveries, though a direct technical link between the Dutch and French incidents has not been confirmed.
- Security researchers found many affected devices were reachable from the internet and ran outdated or end‑of‑life firmware, and vendors and operators share unclear responsibility for installing critical updates.
- Beyond immediate spoilage and empty shelves — with early damage estimates starting near €300,000 and other reports saying losses could reach millions — the attacks highlight how long lifecycles and weak network controls can turn industrial IoT into a supply‑chain risk.