France Blames Iran for Cyberattacks That Sabotaged 700 Grocery Stores

France has fallen victim to the most elaborate “Is your refrigerator running? Then you better go get it” prank of all time, and it says Iran is to blame. French officials, including the foreign minister and the Paris prosecutor’s office, say an Iranian hacking group was responsible for cyberattacks that disrupted refrigeration systems at hundreds of supermarkets last month. Similar attacks subsequently spread to other European countries and even targeted French blood-storage facilities, though officials have not established whether those incidents were connected. In a translated statement provided to Gizmodo, France’s Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that the attacks across the country’s infrastructure were executed by “an organized group” and “were carried out to serve a foreign power, in this case, Iran.” The organization named Shahid Kaveh as the primary offender, a cyber unit allegedly affiliated with the Electronic and Cyber ​​Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC-ECC). The group allegedly worked under the cover of several vigilante hacker front groups, including “CyberAveng3rs” and “Cyber Isnaad Front.” The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal investigation into suspected offenses including “fraudulent interference with an automated data-processing system and causing damage by means dangerous to persons.” Prosecutors have also requested international arrest warrants targeting the leadership of Shahid Kaveh. A French government report identifies three Iranian officials: Hamid Reza Lashgarian, head of the IRGC’s Electronic and Cyber Center, and Mahdi Lashgarian and Reza Salarvand, both commanders of Shahid Kaveh. The attacks began on October 11 and targeted refrigeration controllers at roughly 700 food distribution sites across France. Hackers remotely manipulated defrost settings to raise temperatures, causing food to spoil and starting at least 15 fires, according to French cybersecurity officials. Per the BBC, millions of euros worth of frozen food and fresh produce were destroyed. France’s Foreign Ministry now estimates that the nationwide food losses totaled tens of millions of euros. The attacks weren’t limited to refrigeration systems. According to France’s cybersecurity agency, the hackers also targeted equipment manufactured by Schneider Electric at several small hydroelectric facilities. The agency said the attacks had only limited effects on those systems. Similar attacks, which have not officially been attributed to the same Iranian group, hit grocery stores across Europe in the weeks following the ones that spread across France. Per Politico, grocery stores in Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Sweden were impacted by the same style of attack. Similarly, refrigeration systems at three French blood-storage facilities were targeted on November 2, though authorities have not linked those attacks to the Iranian operation. French officials reported that the incidents did not result in any loss of blood products, as monitoring systems alerted workers who were able to secure or relocate the stored plasma before it was damaged. Reuters reported that Iran has yet to acknowledge whether or not it was behind the attack.