Paris prosecutors open probe into cyberattack on supermarket fridges

In mid-October 2026, a cyberattack hit refrigeration equipment at French supermarkets. Retailers including Intermarché, E. Leclerc and Coopérative U confirmed they were affected. Reports said cold-storage controllers were manipulated so that fridges and freezers overheated, spoiling food and, in some cases, causing fires. The government put the number of affected stores at around 700.

The Paris prosecutor's office, whose cybercrime section handles major digital offences, opened a criminal investigation. The case was entrusted to the Office anti-cybercriminalité (OFAC), the French police unit specialising in cybercrime, and to the DGSI, France's domestic intelligence service. Investigators set out to identify the victims, establish how the attack was carried out and link it to the damage reported by retailers.

The case mattered because it showed how weaknesses in connected industrial equipment, such as remote controllers running outdated firmware, could disrupt everyday food supply and raise safety risks. The inquiry later became the basis for the attribution of the attack to a foreign state.