France Accuses Iran's Revolutionary Guard of Cyberattack on Refrigeration Systems

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot officially accused Iran's Revolutionary Guard of orchestrating a cyberattack that disrupted refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarket branches across France. In an unusual statement on Monday, Barrot declared that Tehran "will bear the consequences" for its actions. The cyberattack, which occurred over recent weeks, targeted the thermal control systems of industrial refrigerators and freezers. Hackers gained control of temperature regulators, raising temperatures significantly, which led to the spoilage of large quantities of food products and extensive economic damage. Reports indicate at least 350 branches of French retail chains, including Carrefour, Monoprix, Intermarché, and Coopérative U, were affected. In one instance, freezer temperatures rose to 50 degrees Celsius. The minister's accusation follows investigations by France's national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) and intelligence services, which concluded that cyber units of the Revolutionary Guard exploited security vulnerabilities in cooling controllers to harm the civilian supply chain. This accusation marks a significant escalation in the French and European response to Iranian cyber warfare. The refrigerator attack is not an isolated incident; a similar attack occurred two weeks prior on the cooling systems of the French Blood Services (EFS). In that case, hackers altered temperature settings from minus 30 degrees Celsius to 110 degrees Celsius, but an on-call technician noticed the anomaly, preventing damage to blood supplies. The French accusation adds to a series of cyber operations attributed to Iran, including recent threatening leaflets distributed in Tel Aviv by the hacker group 'Handala' and direct threats from Iran-affiliated entities against military bases in Europe. The economic damage from the French refrigeration attack is estimated in the tens of millions of euros. Investigators are puzzled by the absence of a ransom demand, raising questions about the true motive behind the attack.