Cyberattack Hits France: Major Supermarket Chains Targeted in Unprecedented OT Attack.
Hundreds of stores across France, including major retail leaders like Intermarché, Netto, Monoprix, Carrefour, Coopérative U, and E.Leclerc, have suffered a major cyberattack targeting their industrial refrigeration systems.
By taking remote control of system controllers, attackers raised refrigerated display cases to 50°C, triggering defrost cycles that spoiled massive amounts of food, forced store closures, and caused tens of millions of euros in losses.
As French retail executives called the incident “unprecedented” and “a disaster,” this attack serves as a stark warning:
Cybersecurity is no longer just about protecting data, it directly impacts our physical supply chains, food security, and everyday lives.
Key Takeaways for European Cybersecurity:
Legacy & Unpatched OT Systems are High-Risk Vectors: Exposed industrial controllers (like internet-connected HVAC and refrigeration management interfaces) leave critical infrastructure vulnerable to remote exploitation.
Operational Technology (OT) is the New Target: Cyberattacks have moved beyond databases and phishing emails to target physical equipment and physical supply chain resilience.
Geopolitical Context & Compliance: As hybrid threats accelerate across Europe, enforcing strict standards like the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and securing operational environments is vital.
Why We Need European Resilience, Together
At the European Champions Alliance (ECA), we firmly believe that no single nation, retailer, or organization can tackle these evolving physical and digital threats in isolation.
Through our Cybersecurity Focus Group, and specifically our dedicated Sub-Initiative on OT Security, we bring together European tech leaders, cybersecurity experts, and industry partners to:
– Strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy and cyber sovereignty.
– Bridge the gap between IT & OT security standards for critical infrastructure.
– Protect European citizens and vital supply chains from operational cyber threats.
Europe’s Cyber Startups Keep Going Abroad
One of Europe’s most promising AI security startups is joining a company from outside Europe. On 15 October, Canadian AI company Cohere signed a letter of intent to acquire AISLE, a Prague-based startup that uses AI to find and fix software vulnerabilities. The same day, US security group Proofpoint agreed to buy data security firm Varonis for $6.3 billion. Together, the deals show how fast the cybersecurity market is consolidating, and how often European talent ends up inside foreign groups.
A Czech success story in AI security
AISLE came out of stealth less than a year ago and has already built a strong reputation. Its AI system finds and fixes security flaws in critical open-source software. The company says its team has found more than 500 previously unknown vulnerabilities across over 100 codebases. These include all 12 flaws in OpenSSL’s January security release and 18 of the 24 in the latest release of curl, a widely used data-transfer tool.
The founding team is high-profile. CEO Ondřej Vlček is the former CEO of Czech antivirus company Avast. Co-founder Jaya Baloo is a well-known security leader, and CTO Stanislav Fort previously worked at Anthropic and Google DeepMind.
Under the deal, AISLE’s Prague headquarters will become Cohere’s Prague office, and about 50 employees will join Cohere. Vlček will lead a new unit called Cohere Cyber, Baloo will become Cohere’s global chief information security officer, and Fort will become vice-president of AI security. The price has not been disclosed, and the deal is not yet closed.
Part of a wider wave of consolidation
The AISLE deal came on the same day as the year’s largest pure-play cybersecurity acquisition. Proofpoint, owned by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo, agreed to buy Varonis for $49.75 a share in cash, a 52% premium. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
Both deals rest on the same logic: AI is changing what security means. Proofpoint wants Varonis’s data mapping and access controls to protect sensitive data as AI agents gain access to it. Cohere wants AISLE’s vulnerability-hunting technology to make its own models and platform more secure. Cohere co-founder Ivan Zhang said cyber defenders need a “truly sovereign platform that they can fully trust”.
What it means for European champions
AISLE shows that Europe can produce world-class AI security companies, and quickly. It also shows how hard it is to keep them European. Within a year of launch, one of the continent’s strongest teams in the field is set to become a division of a Canadian company.
There is a nuance. Cohere presents itself as a “sovereign” alternative to US AI providers and is building a European footprint. It has acquired Berlin-based Reliant AI and is also pursuing Germany’s Aleph Alpha, subject to regulatory approval. The Prague team will stay in Prague. But strategic control, and much of the value created, will sit outside the EU.
The question for European policymakers and investors is a familiar one. Europe has the research, the engineers and increasingly the startups. What it often lacks are European buyers and growth capital big enough to turn them into lasting champions. As AI makes cybersecurity a matter of strategic autonomy, that gap matters more than ever.
