Iran denied being involved in cyberattacks targeting refrigerators and freezers in around 700 supermarkets in France. Iran’s Foreign Ministry described Paris’s accusations as “unfounded and biased” and condemned the policy of making accusations against Tehran.
France blamed Iran for the attack on November 9. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the operation had been carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to him, the attack was unprecedented in scale and constituted cyber-sabotage against French territory.
Temperatures Were Raised Remotely
The attack took place overnight from October 11 to 12. The attackers gained remote access to the systems controlling refrigeration and raised the temperatures in refrigerators and freezers. This forced stores to throw away large quantities of fresh and frozen products.
Around 700 of approximately 10,000 supermarkets in France were affected. The chains experiencing problems included Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarché and Coopérative U. French authorities said the consequences also included material damage, while fires broke out at some locations.
Paris Preparing European Sanctions
On November 10, France summoned the Iranian ambassador over the incident. Paris said it would seek European-level sanctions against those it considers responsible for the attack.
Barrot said that France “was ruling nothing out” and would take measures it considered proportionate and necessary to deter further attacks. He noted that some of the possible actions might not be made public.
The French investigation is ongoing, while Iran denies responsibility. On November 2, similar problems with refrigeration and freezer systems were also recorded in other European countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia and Sweden. There is still no public confirmation that all of these incidents were carried out by the same perpetrator.
Sources: efe.com, apnews.com, afp.com