France blames Iran's Revolutionary Guards for hacking freezers in 700 supermarkets, vows EU-wide sanctions

France blames Iran's Revolutionary Guards for hacking freezers in 700 supermarkets, vows EU-wide sanctions.

France has accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of a cyberattack that seized control of refrigeration in up to 700 supermarkets and shops across the country last month, The Guardian reported. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called it an act of "unprecedented scale and unprecedented aggression" and said "Europe-wide sanctions" would follow.

In the attacks on Oct. 11 and 12, hackers remotely overrode digital thermostats on thousands of freezers and chiller cabinets, driving temperatures from as low as -27C to above 50C in some cases. Thousands of tons of food were dumped, and in some stores the heat sparked fires that set off sprinklers, according to The Guardian. The BBC reported Iran has rejected the French claims.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said investigators found a modus operandi characteristic of Shahid Kaveh, an IRGC-linked cyber unit, including use of Farsi and IP addresses traced to devices in Iran. Her office opened an investigation into the unit's leader, his deputies and others on organized hacking charges, aggravated by acting for a foreign power. Barrot said Iran's ambassador was summoned.

Similar incidents have since hit a French blood bank's cold stores, which technicians disconnected in time, and supermarket refrigeration in 11 European countries. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ministers would discuss the incidents next Monday and that, if attributed to Iran, they "call for a strong response." A cybersecurity analyst warned water and electricity systems could be next.