France blames Iran for attack on supermarket refrigeration systems

France has publicly attributed last month’s cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration systems to Iran, with prosecutors in Paris opening a formal investigation into suspected organised cybercrime acting to serve a foreign power. ANSSI, France’s national cybersecurity agency, linked the operation to the Shahid Kaveh group, an Iran-based unit said to be affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Investigators report language in Farsi and IP addresses associated with devices located in Iran, and Paris authorities are seeking international arrest warrants for those identified.

The Oct. 12 incident remotely compromised refrigeration controls across hundreds of French supermarkets and independent stores, pushing temperatures as high as 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) for about six hours and forcing the discard of perishable goods. Intermarché said the damages amounted to tens of millions of euros in a single day.

In response, France summoned Iran’s ambassador and vowed European sanctions against those responsible, with statements from the Foreign Minister and prosecutors describing the attack as unprecedented in scale on French soil and threatening further measures to deter future activity.

Authorities also noted related cyber activity in France, including a separate blood bank incident last week that was halted before affecting blood products, and attributed other attacks to Iran-linked groups such as Shahid Shoostari. Separately, ANSSI has previously attributed multiple cases since 2020 to the same or similar Iran-affiliated actors.