France blames Iran's Revolutionary Guard for supermarket cyberattack
A judicial investigation has opened in Paris, and Iranian authorities have not yet responded to France's allegations.
France's foreign minister on Monday accused Iran's Revolutionary Guard of a cyberattack that disrupted refrigeration at hundreds of French supermarkets in October, China's state news agency Xinhua reported.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the attack matched the methods of a unit affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking after a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Paris.
The G7 brings together Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union.
Barrot said France had summoned Iran's ambassador to register a firm protest and called the attack a serious breach of the country's interests.
He added that those responsible would face sanctions at the European level.
The Paris prosecutor's office has opened a judicial investigation into the attack, Le Monde reported on Monday, targeting the head of Shahid Kaveh, an Iranian cyber unit tied to the Revolutionary Guard's Electronic and Cyber Center, along with two deputies and any other people who may be identified.
The prosecutor's office said investigators, working with specialized state agencies, found an attack pattern typical of that unit, including the use of Farsi and IP addresses linked to devices in Iran.
The attack ran overnight from Oct. 11 to 12, with hackers remotely switching on continuous defrost cycles and setting refrigeration to 50 degrees Celsius, French news channel BFMTV reported.
Financial losses were estimated at several million euros, BFMTV reported.
Iranian authorities have not yet publicly responded to France's allegations.