France suspects Iran-backed hackers in cyberattacks, summons Tehran envoy

Two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday that French officials suspect state-backed Iranian hackers were behind cyberattacks that disrupted commercial refrigeration and cooling systems across France last month.

The sources indicated that this operation may be among the most disruptive cyberattacks since the outbreak of the Iran conflict in February, which has included incidents suspected of causing digital disruptions, such as the Los Angeles transit system outage in March, attacks on US water treatment plants in July, and disruptions to ships bound for the United States in August.

Reuters reported that prosecutors in Paris have launched an investigation into an Iranian national suspected of hacking into commercial refrigeration units, with findings pointing to a systematic attack by this individual.

Reuters also cited the French foreign minister as blaming Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the cyberattack on refrigeration systems. The minister announced the summoning of Iran's ambassador over the incident and confirmed that the European Union will impose sanctions on Iran in response.