France Accuses Iran's IRGC of Cyberattacks on Hundreds of Supermarkets
French authorities have accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of direct involvement in a major cyberattack that disrupted commercial refrigerators and deep freezers at hundreds of supermarkets across France. Paris has warned that Iran will face serious consequences for the alleged acts of digital sabotage.
The coordinated cyberattack, which took place in early October, caused food products to spoil at hundreds of supermarkets across France and triggered fires at dozens of locations. Following the incident, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot summoned Iran's ambassador to Paris.
At the same time, the European Union warned that it could impose additional sanctions on Iran in response to the cyberattacks.
Nature of the Cyberattacks and the Damage Caused
A joint report by French intelligence and cybersecurity agencies stated that hackers took control of the temperature-control systems of commercial refrigerators in a major cyberattack shortly after midnight on October 11.
By raising the temperatures excessively, the attackers caused fires in some refrigerators. Overnight, thousands of tonnes of meat, melted ice cream and other perishable food products were ruined at supermarkets across the country.
Approximately 700 commercial establishments nationwide were affected by the cyberattack, including meat-processing plants and butcher shops. The damage caused by this single attack alone exceeded tens of millions of euros.
Later, during the current month, at least 100 more establishments across Europe were targeted by similar cyberattacks. In some French blood banks, the temperature of stored blood supplies also rose to alarming levels, forcing staff to urgently transfer them to new refrigerated storage facilities.
Who Was Behind the Hacking?
According to French investigators, a cyberattack unit named 'Shahid Kaveh', operating under the IRGC, along with three affiliated fake hacker groups, carried out the attacks. Analysis of the digital infrastructure used in the cyberattacks, as well as the presence of Persian-language elements in the attack techniques, reportedly confirmed the involvement of this Iranian unit.
Experts said that hackers were able to gain easy access to several affected refrigeration systems because they were running outdated software and used older-generation coding technologies.
Iran has consistently denied allegations that it conducts malicious cyber operations. On this occasion, too, Iran's delegation to the United Nations had not issued any immediate comment on the matter.
However, against the backdrop of military tensions between the United States and Iran since the beginning of this year, as well as the ongoing cyber conflict between Russia and Europe, these unprecedented attacks on commercial establishments have raised new concerns about the security of global infrastructure.
//DBTech/BMT/OR//
