France accuses Iran's IRGC over cyberattacks on 700 supermarkets

France has formally accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of carrying out destructive cyberattacks on refrigeration controllers at more than 700 supermarkets across the country in October. The attacks affected chains including Casino, Leclerc, Coopérative U, Metro, Carrefour and Intermarché, started at least 15 fires and caused food losses in the tens of millions of euros, according to France's Cyber Crisis Coordination Centre (C4).

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the IRGC was responsible and warned there would be consequences, vowing action using "all available means of response." The C4, which includes France's national cybersecurity agency, external and internal intelligence directorates, armament directorate and cyber defence command, described the campaign as unprecedented in scale and aggressiveness — the first cyber offensive campaign carried out purely for sabotage on national territory.

Separately, Major General Mike Fayers, commander of the UK's Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force, disclosed that British troops are being deployed abroad as "hunt forces" to disrupt hackers targeting UK defence systems.

The two developments point in the same direction: states are moving from defending networks to pursuing attackers across borders. France's foreign ministry calls the campaign the first cyber offensive carried out purely for sabotage on its national territory. The UK's hunt forces mark a shift from territorial cyber defence to offensive operations overseas. Whether cyber retaliation becomes a normal tool of statecraft — and what France's promised consequences will look like — remains to be seen.

This article was updated on Nov. 10, 2026 to correct the headline and one sentence. The attacks hit refrigeration controllers at more than 700 supermarkets and started at least 15 fires, not fires at 700 stores, and the claim of a first is France's own description of the campaign, not a first formal attribution.