In short: Cyber attackers are a major concern for grocery shoppers across Europe. On Sunday evening, hackers attacked the cooling systems of around 150 Intermarché stores, forcing employees to throw away food that is no longer safe to eat. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
A spokesman for the supermarket chain told Bloomberg that the attackers penetrated the controls of the cooling systems and activated the defrost mode, which heated them to 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. It took about six hours before employees noticed. At this point, all the food in the coolers was spoiled.
The attack was not limited to Intermarché branches. According to Agence France-Presse, fewer than 100 Cooperative U stores were also affected. BMF added that some Leclerc branches were also affected. La Dépêche reports that electronic price labeling systems were also affected.
Bloomberg said the systems targeted in the Intermarché attack were managed by Danfoss. Just a few months ago, security researchers from Team 82 published a report pointing out several vulnerabilities in Danfoss refrigeration controllers that could lead to exactly this type of attack. It’s no surprise, then, that an attack took place in the real world.
The immediate consequences of the attack are not entirely clear, beyond the obvious inconvenience to shoppers, supermarket workers and food delivery workers. According to initial reports, the financial damage amounts to around 300,000 euros. However, this number could be significantly higher when the full extent of the attack becomes clear.
Cooperative U CEO Dominique Schelcher said teams had been sent to its stores to address the issue, adding that they would conduct a full investigation into the matter. No suspects have been publicly identified at this time.
It is entirely possible that this was a test run with which the attackers wanted to demonstrate its effectiveness. If used in conjunction with other destructive attacks on the power grid or utilities, the impact could be devastating. It’s the worst-case hacking scenario we’ve been warned about for years – thankfully it hasn’t happened…yet.
