France blames Iran for fridge cyberattacks, weighs sanctions
France is “not ruling anything out” in its response to October’s mass cyberattacks on supermarket refrigerators that the country has blamed on Iran, the country’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Tuesday.
The French government summoned Iran’s ambassador Tuesday morning after Paris said Monday that the findings of an investigation laid the blame for the hacks on Shahid Kaveh, an affiliate of the cyber unit of the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Barrot told radio station Franceinfo that the French government could respond with bans on entering European territory and the freezing of assets of anyone held responsible, as it looks to deter any further malicious acts conducted against the region.
Probe points to Iranian hackers
Remote hacks on around 700 grocery stores over the night of Oct. 11 to Oct. 12 caused refrigerators and freezers to heat up by as much as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
The soaring temperatures spoiled food and sparked fires, generating tens of millions of dollars in damage. Major French retailers, including Intermarché, E. Leclerc, Carrefour, Monoprix and Coopérative U were targeted.
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office is seeking international arrest warrants, Paris chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
A customer enters an Intermarche supermarket in Issy-les-Moulineaux, on the outskirts of Paris, on October 12, 2026, , following a cyberattack affecting the French supermarket chains Intermarche and Cooperative U that caused their refrigerators to defrost.
Dimitar Dilkoff | Afp | Getty Images
Investigators found use of Farsi and IP addresses pointing to devices in Iran, according to the statement, which added that the attacks were committed to serve a foreign power, in this case, Iran.
The hacks targeted refrigeration controllers supplied by Danfoss and Dixell, with attackers remotely taking control of the equipment through web interfaces and starting unlimited defrost cycles while disabling the safety alerts on sensors designed to activate when temperatures exceed a set threshold, it said.
France proposes fresh sanctions against Iran
The French government also said Monday that it would propose new European sanctions against any Iranian entities and individuals involved, and summon the Iranian Ambassador.
“France condemns in the strongest possible terms the unacceptable cyberattacks carried out on its territory by the Islamic Republic of Iran against its interests,” France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“This is an unprecedented campaign in terms of its scale and level of aggressiveness, thus constituting the first cyber offensive campaign carried out purely for the purpose of sabotage on national territory.”
“This actor poses a persistent threat to our critical infrastructure. These destructive cyberattacks are unjustifiable, inexcusable, and violate international law,” the ministry said.
CNBC has contacted the Iranian government for comment.
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