Belgium says evidence points at Iran over fridge cyberattacks

BRUSSELS - Belgium said on Nov 12 Iran could be behind cyberattacks on supermarket fridges in the country this month, days after France blamed Tehran for a similar incident in October.Interior Minister Bernard Quintin told Parliament that evidence gathered by Belgian authorities also pointed at Tehran, but stopped short of officially attributing the hack.“According to reliable evidence obtained by our agencies, Iran could potentially be behind the attacks on the refrigeration systems of several major retail chains, as was the case in France,” he said, adding he wanted to remain “diplomatically cautious”.Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot had said earlier on Nov 12 that it would be premature to officially attribute the cyberattack.Dozens of supermarkets across Belgium reported refrigeration problems that forced some retailers to discard food on Nov 2.Similar issues were reported by stores in Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.France, which had been hit by a similar attack three weeks earlier, has blamed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for it.Speaking to lawmakers, Quintin described the cyberattack in Belgium as an act of “destabilisation”.The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office declined to provide additional details.“The investigation is currently ongoing and is being treated as a matter of the highest priority. At this stage, it is not possible to provide further information or comment on the nature and precise circumstances of the alleged incidents, or on any potential motive,” it said.France has called for the EU to impose more sanctions on Iran over the incident.Officials from the bloc say they are working on a response. AFP