How grocers can avoid being 'interesting targets' for cyberattacks
A recent cyberattack targeting hundreds of French supermarkets serves as an urgent reminder for Canada’s food retailers to take stock of their digitized systems, experts say.
Last weekend, per reports, hackers breached internet-connected systems in some 700 grocery stores in France—including Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarché, E.Leclerc and Coopérative U—remotely raising fridge temperatures as high as 50 C. The cyberattack spoiled large quantities of fresh and frozen food, and even sparked fires in some locations.
Cybercriminals reportedly exploited vulnerabilities (such as outdated firmware) in systems run by Danish company Danfoss and U.S.-based Copeland and Dixell.
The financial toll is estimated to be in the millions of euros. A manager at one Intermarché location told French newspaper Le Figaro her store discarded food valued at roughly 50,000 euros (approximately C$80,000).
“What's striking about the France incident is that the reported impact wasn't primarily about data theft. It was about business disruption,” says Adnan Seddighi, associate partner, IBM Canada Security Intelligence & Operations.
Today’s supermarkets are more digitized than ever: connected refrigeration systems, smart carts, electronic shelf labels and energy management systems, to name a few. And for good reason. These systems can support inventory management, improve energy efficiency, enhance the customer experience and reduce food waste, among other things, Seddighi says.
“Internet-connected technologies are much more common in grocery stores today than they were a few years ago,” he explains.
But these technological advancements bring with them new vulnerabilities. In recent years, retailers like Loblaw Companies, Federated Co-operatives, London Drugs, Giant Tiger and Empire Company have been affected by cyber incidents.
Retail in particular remains an “attractive” target for hackers, Seddighi says. IBM's global X-Force Threat Intelligence Index found the retail sector accounted for 6% of observed cyber incidents in 2025, up slightly from the previous year.
“Food retailers are particularly interesting targets because they sit at the centre of a highly interconnected ecosystem that includes suppliers, distributors, logistics providers, payment systems and increasingly connected operational technologies,” he explains. “There is also a growing supply-chain dimension to cyber risk.”
IBM's Canadian Cost of a Data Breach research found that supply-chain compromise is now the largest factor increasing breach costs for Canadian organizations.
“It underscores how vulnerabilities can emerge not only from a company's own systems, but through trusted partners, vendors and connected technologies,” Seddighi.
Jon Ferguson, vice-president of Cyber & DNS at CIRA (the Canadian Internet Registration Authority), says any system connected to the internet is at risk of a cyberattack.
“The headline for me is, this is the norm,” he says. “The security of your organization should be a continual practice. If folks take it into their operational behavior to investigate and audit security, they're going to prevent a lot more problems from occurring.”
Building ‘cyber resilience’
Seddighi says retailers should look to bolster their “cyber resiliency”—where cybersecurity extends beyond traditional IT.
“The lesson from France isn't that retailers should be afraid of connected technology. These systems deliver tremendous operational value,” he says. “But as physical equipment becomes increasingly connected, cyber risk can translate into real-world operational impact.”
Cyber resilience begins with understanding what’s connected, who has access to it and how it is secured, Seddighi explains.
“A lot of it comes down to procurement requirements,” says Ferguson. “If someone offers you a connected experience, your immediate follow-up question should be, ‘Well, how do you secure that experience?’”
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Ferguson says, anecdotally, many small and medium sized businesses—like independent grocers—often tap someone in the community as their IT expert.
“Big companies like Loblaw or Sobeys have that internal expertise. Defending an organization now requires a lot of specialized expertise, and so it's not reasonable for every size organization to have that resource in-house,” he says, suggesting smaller chains partner with industry associations.
Seddighi agrees.
“Generally, larger chains have been earlier adopters because connected technologies can help them manage operations consistently across dozens or even hundreds of locations,” he explains. “The more important question isn't size, but visibility. Regardless of how many stores a retailer operates, they should understand what systems are connected, who has access to them, how they are maintained and what safeguards are in place if something goes wrong.”
Seddighi recommends retailers begin by asking themselves if they’re aware of every internet-connected device operating in their stores.
“Are those systems receiving software and firmware updates? Who has remote access to them? What would happen if a critical operational system became unavailable tomorrow?” he says, adding that artificial intelligence adds another dimension.
In Canada, IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach research found organizations that extensively deployed AI and security automation experienced average breach costs of C$5.5 million compared with C$8.91 million for organizations with no deployment, while also identifying and containing breaches more quickly.
“While AI is helping organizations improve threat detection and response, it is also giving attackers new ways to scale and accelerate their activities. For retailers, that means speed matters more than ever when it comes to identifying vulnerabilities and responding to incidents,” Seddighi says.
But while investment is growing, confidence may be stalling.
According to CIRA’s 2026 Cybersecurity Survey, released earlier this month, 76% of Canadian organizations increased their cybersecurity budgets over the past year. But only 67% believe their investment is sufficient.
“That's because more and more people are getting breaches,” Ferguson says. “So, our confidence in security is going down. Everybody is subject to some type of cyber problem… The more conscious we are of the risks that are out there in the landscape, the reality comes home that we need to do more.”
