France blames Iran for mass-hacks targeting freezers in grocery stores and blood banks

Summary

• The French government formally blames Iran for launching cyberattacks targeting thousands of industrial refrigerated units across France & broader Europe.
• This incident follows a series of destructive cyberattacks attributed to Iran this year, including hacks on U.S. water providers & medical device maker Stryker.
• The U.S. government linked similar attacks to pro-Iranian hacktivists working for Tehran, likely in response to the killing of Iran's supreme leader in February.
• Two waves of attacks in October & November allowed hackers to remotely manipulate web-based controllers at grocery stores & supermarkets to raise temperatures & spoil food.
• Medical blood banks were also targeted, but the French Blood Establishment stopped the attacks before any blood was spoiled.
• Security researchers warn that affected web-based controllers are vulnerable to remote hacks, with some models from Danish company Danfoss no longer receiving security fixes.
• French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed responsibility lies with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during a statement in Paris.
• Barrot described the event as an unprecedented act of sabotage & a major assault on French national interests & security.
• The French government has summoned Iran's ambassador & plans to issue European-wide sanctions against those responsible.
• The matter has been referred to the French justice system.
• The U.S. government is investigating whether freezer units on military bases were hacked following similar outages earlier in the year.
• U.S. officials have reportedly linked the freezer attacks to Iran, though the intelligence community has not yet made a formal public attribution.