'Carried out by IRGC': France blames Iran for cyber-attacks on supermarket refrigerators, opens probe

France on Monday (Nov 9) has accused Iran of being behind cyber-attacks that raised the temperatures of supermarket fridges and freezers. It claimed that Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) were behind "unprecedented" cyberattacks on supermarket fridges and vowed sanctions on a European level against Tehran. Additionally, a Paris prosecutor also said that it has opened an investigation into an Iranian cyber unit affiliated with the IRGC over cyberattacks on refrigerators. Iran has not yet responded to Barrot's allegations. Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor, named the unit as Shahid Kaveh, which she said had an affiliation with the electronic and cyber centre of the IRGC.

Also Read: Freezers hacked, flights threatened! Is Russia behind attacks or AI gone rogue?

"I can confirm that this attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said of the cyberattacks on French supermarkets that occurred October 11 and 12. "This attack is unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression," he added. "We will implement sanctions at the European level against all those responsible for this attack," he said. "A judicial investigation has been opened against the head of the Iranian group Shahid Kaveh, an offensive cyber unit affiliated with the Electronic and Cyber Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC-CEC), against his two deputies, and against any other individuals who may be identified," Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

Also Read: Why are hackers targeting freezers? Before France, US military likely faced similar attack

What was the incident?

Hackers gained control of hundreds of supermarket fridges and freezers in France over the weekend and remotely raised the temperatures to nearly 50 degrees Celsius, causing huge amounts of food to go bad. The incident also led to fires at some of the facilities. According to Intermarché CEO Thierry Cotillard, the losses from the hacking likely run into tens of millions of euros. The attack reportedly also affected organisations in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and Belgium, according to Sekoia Threat Detection and Research senior cyber intelligence threat analyst Felix Aime