France: Iranian Revolutionary Guards Behind Cyberattack on Refrigerators

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of being behind a cyberattack that targeted the cooling and refrigeration systems of major retail stores in France last month, announcing the recall of the Iranian ambassador to the French Foreign Ministry. In this context, the Paris public prosecutor’s office announced it had requested the issuance of international arrest warrants for the leader of the “Shahid Kaveh” cyber group, which is linked to the IRGC, and his deputies, on suspicion of their involvement in the attack. Barrot stated, “I confirm that this attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” describing the incident as “unprecedented in scale and level of aggression,” and announcing that France would push for European-level sanctions against those responsible. According to informed sources, French officials suspect that state-sponsored Iranian hackers were behind the attacks that disrupted commercial refrigeration systems across France last month. According to French prosecutors, investigations revealed the use of the Persian language and Internet Protocol addresses pointing to devices located in Iran during the execution of the cyberattack targeting the cooling systems of several major stores. The attack is among the most prominent cyber incidents causing disruptions since the outbreak of hostilities with Iran in February, which have seen various incidents suspected of being linked to cyber disturbances, including the disruption of the Los Angeles transportation system in March, attacks on U.S. water treatment facilities in July, and ships bound for the United States in August.