France blames Iran for supermarket refrigeration cyber-attack

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters at a G7 meeting in Paris on 9 November that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible. He said France would pursue sanctions at European level and had summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest.

France’s cyber-security agency ANSSI said the attack targeted refrigeration controllers at roughly 700 retail sites overnight on 11 and 12 October. Defrost settings were changed to high temperatures, causing stock losses and at least 15 fires.

Supermarket chain Intermarché reported losses of tens of millions of euros in a single day, according to the Associated Press. On 14 October, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said there was no risk to France’s food supplies, while calling the attack a security wake-up call.

France’s cyber crisis centre attributes the attack to Shahid Kaveh, a cyber unit it says is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard. In a public summary, it cited features of the attack infrastructure, distinctive tools, traces of Persian-language use and coverage by a propaganda outlet linked to the group. The summary did not set out the full technical evidence.

Paris prosecutors have opened a judicial investigation. Iran International reported that they had requested international arrest warrants for the alleged head of Shahid Kaveh and two deputies. The BBC reported on 9 November that Iran had not yet responded to Barrot’s accusation.

A later wave of refrigeration incidents affected supermarkets elsewhere in Europe. Two pro-Russian groups claimed responsibility for those attacks, but it is not known whether the later incidents were linked to the French attack.