France Accuses Iran of Refrigerator Cyberattacks
French officials on Monday accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards of responsibility for cyberattacks that knocked out commercial refrigerators and freezers across France last month. They said there would be consequences for Iran.
The hacks hit hundreds of French supermarkets in early October. They were among the most disruptive cyberattacks of the Iran war that began in February. The conflict has seen scattered incidents of alleged digital disruption. These 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 came minutes after Reuters revealed that investigators privately suspected Iran of being behind the attacks. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the Iranian ambassador had been summoned to France's foreign ministry. Barrot also threatened further EU sanctions against Iran.
The October 11 Attack
The October 11 cyberattack overrode temperature controls on commercial fridges in hundreds of establishments. Cybersecurity experts previously told Reuters that the attack appeared easy to carry out. The firm behind many of the affected units said several were obsolete or running outdated firmware, which could have made it easy for hackers to break in.
The effects were dramatic. Some refrigerators had the temperature turned up so high they caught fire. In the hours after the hack, supermarket employees carted boxes full of spoiled meat and melted ice cream into large trash containers. One French supermarket owner estimated the total costs could reach tens of millions of euros nationwide.
Reuters could not establish exactly how the French made their determination.
Second Wave of Hacking
The October hacks were followed this month by a second wave of hacking that hit more than 100 establishments across Europe. It even affected refrigerators used by French blood banks, forcing employees to move some blood to different cold storage units.
The simple nature of the refrigerator hacks and their repetition across multiple countries led to speculation about who might be responsible. This came amid concerns over Russia's suspected sabotage campaign in Europe, the war between the US and Iran, and the global rise of AI-powered cyberattacks.
US Refrigerator Attacks
The sabotage of European supermarket fridges was preceded by at least one similar incident in the United States.
In August, refrigerators in at least half a dozen military commissaries stopped working. Pentagon investigators are treating the malfunctions as a suspected cyberattack. They are working with French officials to find out what happened, Reuters reported last month.
Reuters could not independently establish whether there was any link between the refrigeration incidents at US military bases in August, the hacking campaign in France, and the more recent wave of refrigeration hacks in Europe.
A person familiar with the matter said the Pentagon considers Iran a suspect in the August commissary hacks, but the investigation is still in progress.
Reuters could not establish how the military made its determination or whether it was also looking into other suspects. News website Nextgov first reported last month that the US military considers Iran a suspect in the commissary sabotage campaign.
The Pentagon said on Monday that it is "aware of speculation regarding a potential cyber incident" but that military investigators were on the case and it could not offer further comment for security reasons.
Source: dawn