France Blames Iran's Revolutionary Guard for Supermarket Cyberattacks

The French government has held Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for cyberattacks against industrial refrigeration systems. The operation disrupted the performance of refrigerators and freezers in hundreds of French supermarkets throughout October.

The attack was carried out by breaching remote management software provided by the Danish company Danfoss. In many establishments, equipment temperatures rose sharply overnight and caused the loss of large stocks of perishable food.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the episode as an unprecedented act of sabotage. The Iranian ambassador in Paris was summoned to provide explanations and the country plans to coordinate new sanctions with the European Union.

Investigations by the Paris public prosecutor are focusing on an Iranian cyber unit known as Shahid Kaveh. Beyond France, supermarkets in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Finland also reported similar issues during a second wave of attacks.

Experts note that the vulnerability stemmed from the use of obsolete or outdated firmware in refrigeration units. Financial losses caused by food spoilage are estimated to be in the millions of euros.