'Weaponisation of food' a reality – commissioner
The weaponisation of food has become a reality, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen has warned.
Hackers this week targeted hundreds of French supermarkets, causing refrigerators and freezers to overheat.
Spoiled food
The attack sparked fires and spoiled food across supermarkets in the region.
Some 150 to 200 Intermarché stores were targeted in the attack (12 October) along with nearly 100 Coopérative U outlets, the retailers said, with hackers "managing to remotely trigger” the attack.
Fridges at French supermarket chains Carrefour, Monoprix, the Les Mousquetaires-owned Intermarché, and Coopérative U, among others, all saw fridges heat up to as much as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.
Coopérative U’s chief executive Dominique Schelcher confirmed that cyberattacks had affected “refrigeration production facilities of several stores”.
'Extremely serious and unprecedented'
“Attacking equipment that is essential to the preservation of fresh products and the food supply of the French people is extremely serious and unprecedented. It is unacceptable,” Schelcher said in a LinkedIn post, CNBC reported.
Les Mousquetaires said it was expecting the damages, which affected around 180 stores, to reach “several million euro in losses”, it told CNBC.
It said some fresh and frozen food displays had been out of service after the cyber-attack affected one of its service providers responsible for managing refrigeration systems inside some stores.
Wave of cyberattacks
This comes amid a broader wave of cyberattacks and cybercrimes, which experts are warning are being enhanced by artificial intelligence.
British online fashion retailer Asos experienced a cybersecurity breach last week that revealed some customers’ personal information.
A small power plant in Britain was shut down for four days in July after a cyberattack that was suspected to be linked to Iran.