BRUSSELS, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said Iran was “very likely” behind the recent refrigerator cyberattacks on European shops, while Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said there was insufficient evidence to draw conclusions.
“There was enough evidence from our security services for me to say that Iran is very likely behind the cyberattacks we have seen targeting our shops,” Quintin told Belgian broadcaster VRT NWS Thursday evening.
Quintin made similar comments earlier on Thursday, but Prévot struck a more cautious tone.
“The information currently available to us is insufficient to officially hold Iran responsible,” Prévot said in a statement.
He added that any official attribution of a cyberattack to a foreign actor must be handled through the Foreign Ministry and that Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office was still investigating the matter.
The attack earlier this month raised temperatures in refrigerator and freezer units at dozens of stores.
French officials on Monday accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of responsibility for similar attacks last month, saying there would be consequences for Iran.
Iran has routinely denied carrying out malicious cyber operations.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Mark Potter)
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