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The story
A cyberattack targeting the refrigeration and freezer systems of at least 300 supermarkets across France struck between October 11 and 12. The equipment’s defrost function was remotely hijacked, pushing internal temperatures up to as much as 50°C (122°F), resulting in spoiled food and even fires at some locations. At stores in Paris, products were pulled from freezer cases entirely, leaving shelves empty. On 5ch, comments poured in along the lines of “you shouldn’t put everything online” and “smart appliances just add risk,” with users citing past incidents in Japan where companies like Nichirei, Askul, and the Asahi Group saw their logistics disrupted by similar attacks. At the same time, some raised a technical question: why would refrigeration equipment even be capable of reaching a 50°C setting in the first place?
A large-scale cyberattack targeting refrigeration and freezer equipment has hit supermarkets across France, causing spoiled food and fires at at least 300 stores.
At supermarkets in Paris, products have been removed from freezer display cases, leaving the shelves empty.
The cyberattack occurred between the 11th and 12th.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Cut the useless features and sell it cheaper, idiots
Genuinely think they're pointless
Nichirei already got hit by something like this
A while back Askul and Asahi got hit too
Logistics were disrupted for months
Guess single-purpose devices really are the way to go
This genuinely pisses me off
Africa hasn't been hit either, now that you mention it
Maybe they just don't announce it?
They're pretty prideful about that stuff
Russia's warehouses are already literally on fire, so they're safe
All my Koukun sausages would get cooked (Koukun is a popular Nippon Ham smoked sausage brand)
Apparently in retaliation for Russia's preemptive strike on a Ukrainian data center
Major Russian IT firm's data center damaged in drone strike, payment services disrupted
https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2026101300158&g=int
You'd think even without cooling, it could at least block active heating
Supermarket fridges are probably the walk-in-room type where the whole room IS the fridge/freezer, so there's no plug to pull
We're basically at Gundam or Nietzsche's Übermensch levels at this point
So the frost-removal system got taken over? ("シッモ" here is shorthand slang for 霜取り/defrost)
Pointless, this isn't a domestic issue
This is cyber warfare
So you can turn it on early and have the room cool by the time you get home?
I don't get it
Commercial AC units are linked to the manufacturer's head-office systems, so if something breaks, a technician shows up right away
At least that's how it works for Daikin and Mitsubishi
Using a smart remote to turn your AC on before you get home is super convenient though
Don't you want to be able to control it from your vacation spot?
That's just sending a signal pattern for anomaly detection
It's not the same as a line with actual internet access
What era are you living in lol
Just sending signals? How Showa-era of you! lol (Showa era: 1926–1989, i.e. old-fashioned)
This is the age where everything's managed and maintained by computer
Is it repurposed equipment from a sake brewery or something?
Isn't it just for defrosting or something? 🥺
Background and key points of discussion
It appears the attack didn’t involve a literal “50°C setting” on the fridges themselves — rather, the equipment’s “defrost” function was remotely hijacked from outside, causing the internal temperature to rise as a side effect. Commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning systems, even from major makers like Daikin and Mitsubishi Electric, are often kept permanently connected to the manufacturer’s head-office systems so technicians can respond quickly to malfunctions — and this may have served as the entry point for the attack. The thread’s claim that “China and Russia haven’t been attacked” should be taken with a grain of salt, since it’s equally possible such incidents simply go unreported there rather than not happening at all. Japan too has seen similar precedents, with companies like Nichirei, Askul, and the Asahi Group forced to halt shipments after cyberattacks on their logistics and food operations — so this is far from a problem limited to overseas.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nanimo Jikkyou G) thread “[Breaking] French supermarket has its fridge temperature cranked to 50°C by cyberattack….”
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