AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Tom’s Hardware, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.
An ongoing cyberattack is reportedly striking major supermarket chains across Europe, disrupting refrigeration control systems. The incident involves units set to continuously defrost at 50 degrees Celsius, a temperature significantly higher than normal operation. This malfunction is also affecting delivery services and in-store pricing powered by electronic shelf labels, according to La Dépêche.
Several French retailers have confirmed the issue, including Intermarché, Leclerc, and Coopérative U. Dominique Schelcher, president of Coopérative U, stated on Monday morning that a cyberattack has been affecting refrigeration production facilities since last night. He described the situation as "extremely serious" and noted that teams have been mobilized to fix the issue while an investigation is underway.
The attack reportedly reconfigured automatic defrosting systems, which normally run for just two hours a day, into a continuous cycle at 50 degrees Celsius. This has caused a wave of heat to escape from fridges and freezers. Early reports indicate losses are approaching 300,000 euros but could reach several million euros nationwide. In the Netherlands, Albert Heijn, Etos, and Gall & Gall reported website outages and price disruptions on Sunday afternoon.
Source: Tom’s Hardware • Stephen Warwick • October 12, 2026