French authorities suspect Iranian hackers behind widespread refrigerator outages
France's foreign ministry and prosecutors are investigating cyberattacks that disabled commercial refrigerators, with sources indicating Iranian state-backed actors may be responsible.
French officials are investigating a series of cyberattacks that disabled the temperature controls of commercial refrigerators and freezers in hundreds of establishments across France in October. Two sources familiar with the matter said the attacks appear to be linked to Iranian state-backed hackers, marking one of the most disruptive incidents in the ongoing cyber conflict that began with the war with Iran in February.
The outages caused temperatures to rise dramatically, leading some units to overheat and catch fire. Supermarket staff were forced to discard large quantities of perished meat and melted ice cream, and a supermarket owner estimated the nationwide damage could reach tens of millions of euros. A subsequent wave of attacks this month affected more than 100 locations across Europe, including refrigerators used by French blood banks, which required the transfer of blood to alternative storage units.
Earlier in August, similar malfunctions were reported at several U.S. military commissaries. The Pentagon is treating those incidents as a suspected cyberattack and is cooperating with French authorities. While the Pentagon has not confirmed a perpetrator, a source said the department considers Iran a suspect in the commissary incidents.
"We are aware of speculation regarding a potential cyber incident," the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that investigators are actively examining the matter.
The French foreign ministry, the Paris prosecutor's office, and Iran's United Nations mission have not responded to requests for comment. Iran routinely denies involvement in malicious cyber operations.