France vows tough response to freezer cyberattack blamed on Iran
Paris has summoned Iran's ambassador and is seeking European sanctions as tensions escalate over the attacks.
French authorities have vowed a strong response to a major cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration systems in October, which it believes was carried out by Iran. Hundreds of French supermarkets were affected, with refrigerators and freezers overheating and forcing stores to discard large quantities of perishable food. Similar incidents were reported in at least eleven other European countries in early November.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaking on Tuesday, ruled out any options for retaliation against Iran and stated that France would take all necessary measures, both announced and undisclosed, to prevent future attacks. The French government has formally summoned Iran's ambassador and is seeking European-level sanctions against the perpetrators.
Barrot described the October attacks as "unprecedented in both scale and level of aggression," making it the first large-scale cyber sabotage on French soil. The European Union expressed readiness to offer a coordinated response following France's announcement, emphasizing its commitment to addressing malicious cyber behavior through all available tools, including sanctions.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed the opening of an investigation into Shahid Kaveh, an alleged cyber unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The prosecutor's office has requested international arrest warrants for two officials from the unit, which is described as an "offensive cyber unit affiliated with the Electronic and Cyber Centre of the IRGC-CEC."
This unit is known for conducting large-scale campaigns targeting industrial equipment, primarily for sabotage purposes, against Israel, the United States, France, and other European countries.
Shahid Kaveh allegedly exploited web interfaces to manipulate cooling systems, causing abnormal, indefinite defrost cycles and disabling temperature threshold alerts. The investigation aims to assess the full extent of the cyberattack and bring those responsible to justice.
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