France Accuses Iran of Hacking 700 Supermarket Refrigerators

French prosecutors identified 700 supermarkets as the target of a massive cyberattack that sent refrigerator temperatures soaring last month. The incident occurred on Oct. 12 and affected roughly 7% of the country's 10,000 grocery stores.

In a statement released Monday, Paris prosecutors attributed the attack to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The formal judicial investigation targets Shahid Kaveh, a leader of an Iranian cyber unit, along with his two deputies. Investigators found that the attackers used Farsi language patterns and IP addresses linked to devices in Iran. The Paris prosecutor’s office is now seeking international arrest warrants for the suspects.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot summoned the Iranian ambassador to express strong protest. Speaking during G7 talks in Paris, Barrot described the event as the first large-scale cyberattack aimed at sabotage on French soil. He stated that France would impose sanctions at the European level against all responsible parties. Barrot vowed to take any other measures needed to respond to the threat and deter future attacks.

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed that the investigation opened Monday looks into suspected organized cybercrime. She noted the aggravating circumstance that the crime was committed to serve the interests of a foreign power. The Foreign Ministry condemned the action in the strongest possible terms, calling it an extreme threat to national interests and the security of the French people.

Attackers remotely controlled refrigeration systems in the early hours of Oct. 12. Temperatures inside the units reached 50 degrees Celsius, which is 122 degrees Fahrenheit, for about six hours. Stores were forced to discard fresh and frozen goods. The Intermarché supermarket chain reported losses of tens of millions of euros in a single day.

The incident follows a similar attack last week on several French blood banks. That cyber attempt tried to raise temperatures to high levels but was stopped before damaging blood products. France’s national cybersecurity agency and Paris prosecutors are investigating that separate incident as well.

Supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Estonia also faced freezer and fridge problems last week. Those issues appear to have been caused by cyberattacks, forcing some stores to dispose of ruined food.