The French government has officially accused Iran of carrying out cyberattacks on thousands of internet-connected industrial refrigeration and freezing units, affecting facilities across France and other regions of Europe.
The French government has officially accused Iran of carrying out cyberattacks on thousands of internet-connected industrial refrigeration and freezing units, affecting facilities across France and other regions of Europe.
This is reported by TechCrunch.
In the last two waves of cyberattacks in October and early November, hackers remotely accessed web controllers that manage industrial refrigeration fleets in grocery stores and supermarkets.The attackers raised the temperatures in the systems to spoil food and destroy merchandise .
According to the French Blood Center, medical blood banks were also hit, but the attack was stopped in time, preventing the spoilage of biomaterials. Cybersecurity experts note that hackers exploited vulnerabilities in web controllers, in particular in certain models of the Danish company Danfoss, which no longer receive security updates.
“I can confirm that the responsibility for this act lies with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This was an attack of unprecedented scale and aggression; it is the first large-scale act of sabotage on our national territory and constitutes a serious blow to the interests of the state and the security of the French people,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. He added that the hackers’ actions “will not go without consequences.”
The French government summoned the Iranian ambassador in connection with the incident. It is known that Paris will initiate the introduction of pan-European sanctions against the organizers and perpetrators of the attack. Iranian representatives are currently refraining from official comments.
Recall that in early November, supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg announced a large-scale failure in the operation of refrigeration equipment. On Monday night, the temperature in refrigerators and freezers in dozens of stores suddenly rose. Experts believe that this was a cyberattack similar to the one that caused millions in losses to retailers in France in October.
