French officials yesterday accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of responsibility for the cyberattacks that knocked out commercial refrigerators and freezers across France last month, saying there would be consequences for Iran.
The hacks that struck hundreds of French supermarkets in early October were among the most disruptive cyberattacks of the Iran war that began in February, a conflict that has been marked by scattered incidents of alleged digital disruption.
These have included hacks against the Los Angeles transit system in March, against US water treatment plants in July and against ships bound for the United States in August.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not return messages seeking comment.
Iran routinely denies carrying out malicious cyber operations.
The French announcement was made only minutes after Reuters revealed that investigators privately suspected Iran of being behind the attacks.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the Iranian ambassador had been summoned to France’s foreign ministry.
Barrot also threatened further EU sanctions against Iran.
The effects of the October 11 hacks were dramatic.
Some refrigerators had the temperature turned up so high they caught fire.
In the hours following the incident, supermarket employees carted boxes full of perished meat and melted ice cream into giant trash containers.
The attack’s total costs could add up to tens of millions of euros nationwide, one French supermarket owner estimated.
The French hacks have since been followed, this month, by a second wave of hacking that hit more than 100 establishments across Europe and even affected refrigerators used by French blood banks, prompting employees there to have to move some of the blood to different cold storage units.
In a joint report issued by French spy and cyber agencies, officials accused Shahid Kaveh — described as a cyber offensive unit tied to the Revolutionary Guards — of being behind the hacking campaign.
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