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Cyber attacks on cooling systems: France blames Iran
The Paris public prosecutor's office is investigating. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announces sanctions at EU level and summons Iran's ambassador. more...
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Who is behind the recent cyber attacks on supermarket refrigeration and freezing systems in Europe? Large quantities of frozen products became inedible due to software control sabotage and ended up in the trash. The French authorities have no doubt that the trail leads to Iran.
Now, around a month later, the Paris public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation against the head of the Iranian hacker group Shahid Kaveh, according to media reports. According to the French authorities, this unit is said to be linked to the Pasdaran (Islamic Revolutionary Guard).
During its investigations, the French Cyber Crisis Coordination Center (C4) came across the Iranian Revolutionary Guard cyber unit, which allegedly left traces of Farsi in the attacks. In addition, the IP addresses in Iran were identified.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Monday: "We are in a position to say that the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran bear responsibility for the attacks. It is an attack of unprecedented scope and aggressiveness."
He announced corresponding “sanctions at EU level” against those suspected of being responsible in Iran. He has already summoned the Iranian ambassador to France to protest decisively against the extremely serious incident.
According to the French government, the attacks are part of targeted “destabilization actions” by the Pasdaran against French and European security interests. Before the attack on the temperature control of the cooling systems in mid-October, there had already been other attacks in the food supply sector, namely on agricultural cooperatives, small butchers' shops and a slaughterhouse.
Previously, in July 2024, a French video production company was similarly attacked by another Iranian cyber entity named Shahid Shoostari, according to information from French authorities. The aim was to distribute manipulated images and videos in order to discredit the participation of the Israeli delegation in the Olympic Games in Paris shortly before the start. The attack was discovered in time and ultimately thwarted.