France accused Iran on Monday of orchestrating a widespread cyberattack that disrupted refrigeration systems at approximately 700 retailers across the country last month, destroying large quantities of food and prompting Paris to announce plans for retaliatory sanctions.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the October attack, describing it as an unprecedented act of cyber sabotage on French territory.
“This was an attack of unprecedented scale and unprecedented aggressiveness," Barrot told reporters, identifying it as the first major cyberattack conducted for sabotage purposes on French soil.
“It represents a major assault on the nation’s interests and on the security of the French people," he added.
Barrot announced that France had summoned the Iranian ambassador and would seek to impose sanctions against Tehran “at a European level."
Iran did not immediately respond to the allegations.
According to BFMTV, the attackers gained remote access to internet-connected refrigeration systems at supermarkets across France. They manipulated temperature controls and activated defrost cycles, causing refrigerators and freezers to warm beyond safe storage temperatures.
The disruptions resulted in extensive losses of fresh and frozen food, while some refrigeration units reportedly caught fire.
The Paris prosecutor's office, which took charge of the investigation, formally attributed the attack to Iran on Monday, pointing to “the use of Farsi and IP addresses pointing to devices located in Iran."
Prosecutors announced an investigation targeting the head of Shahid Kaveh, a cyber unit affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with his two deputies and other individuals potentially involved in the operation.
The allegations come amid a broader wave of cyberattacks against European food retailers.
Earlier this month, supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium and Ireland experienced similar attacks targeting refrigeration equipment. Authorities have not established whether those incidents were connected to the French operation, and no organization has claimed responsibility for them.
The developments have also raised concerns in Israel.
Last week, Israel's National Cyber Directorate issued an urgent alert to supermarket chains, food manufacturers and logistics facilities following reports of the attacks across Europe.
The directorate warned that hackers had exploited security vulnerabilities in internet-connected industrial control systems to remotely alter refrigeration temperatures and activate defrost functions.
According to the warning, the resulting overheating damaged stored products and refrigeration equipment, with some incidents reportedly causing fires.