Fires and spoiled food hit hundreds of supermarkets as France blames Iran over October cyberattack

Supermarket refrigerators disrupted

The attacks targeted refrigerators at hundreds of French supermarkets last month. The units defrosted, spoiling food stored inside, according to the French government. France’s foreign ministry said the incidents caused fires and substantial material damage. It put the resulting food losses at tens of millions of euros.

France cites Iranian links

France’s cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, linked the attacks to the “Shahid Kaveh cyber-offensive unit,” which it says is affiliated with Iran’s military. The foreign ministry said the alleged aim was to destabilize France.

France pointed to infrastructure characteristics, signing tools and promotion of the attacks by a propaganda outlet linked to the Iranian group. It did not elaborate further. The details suggest the attacks used internet addresses and domains previously associated with Iranian state-sponsored hackers.

Sanctions remain under discussion

France is proposing that Europe impose new sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals it considers involved in the supermarket attack and other malicious cyber activity. The foreign ministry said France reserves the right to take further measures, including measures that are not public, if considered necessary and proportionate. Other European countries have so far refrained from linking the attacks to Iran.

Separate attacks on blood supplies

Europe faced a second wave of refrigerator-related attacks last week, this time targeting frozen blood supplies. The article gives no further details about those incidents or their attribution.