On 4 November, French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkea said it had been targeted by a cyberattack that generated approximately €100 million (US$112 million) in fraudulent transactions.
According to Arkea, the money was converted into cryptocurrencies on specialised platforms and that some of it had been blocked, while the bank works to reclaim the lost funds.
What has been targeted?
The heist is the latest in a string of international cyberattacks. On 2 November, supermarket fridges and freezers across Europe were targeted by a hacking attack. This raised unit temperatures up to 50°C, ruining the food within. This resulted in loss of stock and income for the stores.
The attacks, which targeted stores in Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Nordics, and more, took place almost a month after a similar attack took place in 500 – 700 supermarkets in France in October.
France wasn’t spared from this week’s fridge cyberattack; the French Blood Establishment (EFS) has reported that blood banks were forced to intervene when their fridges were also hacked.
Is AI behind the attacks?
Theories have pointed to several suspects, ranging from countries to technologies.
AI has been named as a driver behind the overall increased frequency of cyberattacks, as the technology has brought new skills to more people’s fingertips. It has lowered the barrier to entry for technical skills like coding, which has made hacking much more accessible to the general population.
Hackers, both new and experienced, can now use AI to automate tasks such as phishing and developing malware. When successful, these methods provide hackers with user data that opens ‘doors’ into otherwise protected software.
- In January 2026, Amazon provided security research that showed Russian-language hackers used AI tools to breach over 600 firewalls across the world.
- In February 2026, Bloomberg reported that a hacker had used Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, to attack several Mexican government bodies.
- In July 2026, OpenAI announced that a model broke out of its testing environment andhacked AI platform Hugging Face, searching for test answers.
- In September 2026, the Australian prime minister revealed that an OpenAI agent had hacked intoa private government portal after breaking out of its sandbox testing environment.
- In October 2026, hackers stole $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Binance through a malware attack that granted hackers access to an internal AI tool.
Are there any suspects?
Russia has been under scrutiny following the attacks. Commentators have speculated that the country is demonstrating its cyber potential as part of its war campaign on Ukraine. By hacking the fridges of international retailers and companies, Russia may be trying to show the ‘ease’ with which it could theoretically hack military-based or government software.
The concern is not unfounded, as fridges in military bases across the US were also targeted in August. In similar fashion to this week’s attacks, on-base retailers had their fridge temperatures sabotaged and were forced to dump spoiled food as a result. For the US, this has raised suspicion against Iran rather than Russia, due to their conflict in the Middle East.
Why target retailers?
In a statement to Reuters, Laurens Singier, an ethical hacker and researcher from Cyber 3 Lab, explained that internet-connected devices often have weak protections. This means that they can more easily be accessed remotely and tampered with.
To the researcher, the issue was that the fridges were connected to the public internet and therefore accessible to hackers. These poorly protected devices made retail an easy target.
What’s the long-term impact?
Primarily, the attacks have demonstrated that software vulnerabilities are at increased risk of exploitation.
AI technology now makes cyberattack campaigns accessible for budding hackers and allows experienced hacker groups to accelerate their tasks. Particularly in the case of the Australia hack, the incident demonstrated how an AI agent – autonomous and piloted – can exploit government software vulnerabilities.
The fridge incidents also demonstrate the requirement for tighter software security, especially as more devices become internet accessible.
How can we prevent more attacks?
Protection: Strong passwords can help prevent hackers from reaching sensitive data and software.
Offline tech:Systems such as SIM cards provide more secure offline systems that can protect equipment from being externally tampered with.
Security: It’s vital that enterprises and developers keep their technology watertight to avoid breaches.
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