France blames Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for supermarket fridge cyberattacks

France has accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of carrying out October attacks on French supermarket refrigeration systems and says it will seek European sanctions. Prosecutors have opened an investigation, while officials have not established whether later attacks elsewhere in Europe were connected.

• French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the Revolutionary Guards were responsible for attacks on French supermarket refrigerators on October 11–12 and called them unprecedented in scale and aggression.· 2 sources
• France says it will pursue European-level sanctions against those responsible; it also summoned Iran’s ambassador, according to reports.· 2 sources
• Paris prosecutors opened an investigation involving the head and two deputies of the Shahid Kaveh cyber unit, which French officials describe as affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards.· 2 sources
• The attacks remotely changed refrigeration temperatures, spoiling food and, in some cases, causing units to catch fire. Reports differ on the number of affected French sites, giving figures including hundreds and more than 700.· 3 sources
• Similar incidents were reported later at more than 100 European establishments, including French blood banks, but reports say it has not been established whether those attacks were connected to the October incidents.· 3 sources