Prosecutor: Iran behind France grocery store refrigerator and freezer hacks at hundreds of retailers
France alleges Iranian involvement
The prosecutor’s office said the alleged offenses were aggravated because they were carried out to serve a foreign power, identified as Iran, and involved participation in a criminal conspiracy to prepare a serious crime. Iranian authorities had not immediately responded to the allegations.
FBI warns of system risks
The FBI’s cybercrime branch said last week that it and its partners were seeing malicious cyber activity against industrial refrigeration and cold-chain monitoring systems around the world. It warned that unpatched or internet-accessible controllers could let attackers alter system settings, potentially causing inventory loss and equipment damage.
A separate cyberattack targeted several blood banks in France, but the products and samples were not damaged. The report did not say whether that incident was connected to the refrigeration attacks.
Wider tensions remain in view
Iran’s regime has threatened for months to widen retaliation for the war launched by the United States and the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, using unspecified asymmetric means. The prosecutor’s allegations did not establish a link between those threats and the grocery store hacks.
Key points
- French officials say Iran was behind October refrigeration hacks at hundreds of grocery stores.
- Similar supermarket attacks later affected Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden, with no confirmed link to the French incidents.
- The prosecutor’s investigation targets the alleged leader of Shahid Kaveh and two deputies.
- A separate attack on French blood banks did not damage products or samples.