Hackers Target Dixell Refrigeration Systems in French Supermarkets
A cyberattack on Dixell refrigeration equipment disrupted temperature controls in a Bordeaux-area supermarket, following a similar strike on Danfoss systems a day earlier.
Cyber attackers shifted their focus to French supermarkets using Dixell refrigeration units after a wave of incidents that affected Danfoss technology the previous night. Monitoring systems at an unnamed store in the Bordeaux region flagged an abrupt temperature rise around 4 a.m., prompting store staff and external specialists to intervene and prevent product loss.
"They changed all the defrost and temperature regulation settings: for the frozen goods, instead of -22 degrees, they set it to 150 degrees," said Damien Deudon, a refrigeration specialist based in Gironde.
Deudon, who has worked in the field for 25 years, described the intrusion as highly automated, noting that the hackers altered two or three settings per second—far faster than manual adjustments. He added that his clients had been advised to increase vigilance after the earlier Danfoss attacks.
The rapid response by store personnel and technical teams averted the need to discard any merchandise, and the incident underscores growing cybersecurity risks for critical retail infrastructure.