France blames Iran for supermarket hack meltdowns

French authorities have accused Iran of orchestrating a series of devastating cyberattacks that crippled refrigeration systems at over 700 grocery stores in October, leading to food spoilage and several fires. The attacks targeted major supermarket chains including Casino, Leclerc, and Carrefour, causing tens of millions of euros in food losses, according to France's Cyber Crisis Coordination Centre (C4).

The C4, comprising key French cybersecurity agencies, stated that the attacks represent the first purely sabotaging cyber offensive campaign on French soil. Both a government report and a statement attributed the hacking to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps' Shahid Kaveh cyber unit, also known as CyberAv3ngers. This attribution is based on the unit's known capabilities, the infrastructure used for the attacks, traces of Farsi language in the attack infrastructure, and timely public disclosure of the incidents by Iranian media.

French officials have vowed to take "all available means of response" and have proposed additional EU sanctions against Iranian entities involved. They also expressed strong condemnation to Iran's ambassador and emphasized their right to take further proportionate measures.