Investigators hunt French supermarket fridge hackers, no claim of responsibility

At least 350 supermarkets caught up in cyberattack, spoilt food disposed of Expert suggests attack exploited failure of 'basic cyber hygiene' Danish firm urges companies to use up-to-date systems By Raphael Satter and Gabriel Stargardter PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters) — French investigators on Tuesday were hunting the hackers who seized control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets in a cyberattack that underlined the vulnerabilities of connected systems, with no group publicly claiming responsibility. The absence of a claim of responsibility by hacktivists or a ransom demand by cybercriminals has puzzled investigators, according to a source with knowledge of the probe. Typically, such groups tend to quickly seek to monetise their hacks or claim credit for them for political ends. The cyberattack, which manually overrode the temperatures at fridges in supermarket groups including Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarche and Cooperative U, appears to have been easy to pull off, three cyber experts told Reuters. Staff at some Paris supermarkets threw boxes full of perished meat and frozen goods into giant trash containers on Tuesday. At least 350 supermarkets — a small fraction of the total