France Accuses IRGC Unit of Hacking Hundreds of Supermarket Fridges

France accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of orchestrating a destructive cyberattack that hacked commercial refrigeration units across hundreds of grocery stores last month.

An Unprecedented Sabotage Campaign

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the digital assault during a G7 ministerial meeting in Paris, confirming that state-backed actors took control of digital thermostats to raise temperatures to 50 degrees Celsius. The offensive caused tens of millions of euros in damage through spoiled meat, melted ice cream, and at least 15 fires sparked by overheating equipment.

Unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression, Barrot said. It is the first large-scale cyberattack aimed at sabotage on French soil, and it represents a major threat to our national interests and the security of the French people. That is why it will not go unanswered.

Targeting Shahid Kaveh

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced that a formal judicial investigation had been opened into the leadership of Shahid Kaveh, an offensive cyber unit linked to the Revolutionary Guards. The prosecutor’s office said it had requested international arrest warrants for the unit’s head and two deputies over suspected organized cybercrime committed to serve the interests of a foreign power.

Investigators found that infrastructure used in the refrigeration attacks was also used to scan industrial equipment at several small hydroelectric facilities in France, where the disruption was described as moderate. French intelligence linked Shahid Kaveh to several online hacktivist personas, including CyberAv3ngers and Soldiers of Solomon, that publicly claim responsibility for the unit’s operations. ANSSI said Shahid Kaveh operates under the IRGC’s Electronic and Cyber Center. The accusation was made in a report published by France’s Cyber Crisis Coordination Centre, which brings together ANSSI, the military’s cyber command and the DGSE and DGSI intelligence services.

The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs stated that the Iranian cyber threat against French interests is not new, noting prior actions targeting the weekly satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2023 and the organization of the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

ANSSI separately attributed attacks carried out against France since 2020 to another IRGC unit, Shahid Shoostari, including attacks targeting Charlie Hebdo in 2023 and the organization of the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. French authorities linked Shahid Shoostari to an earlier plan to target Charlie Hebdo in 2020 following the newspaper’s republication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Attacks Strike Hundreds of European Stores and Blood Banks

The initial wave struck roughly 700 establishments across France on October 11 and 12, affecting major supermarket chains including Intermarché, Cooperative U, Carrefour, Monoprix, and E.Leclerc. The sites ranged from supermarkets to butcher shops.

A second wave of attacks hit more than 100 establishments across Europe in November, reaching stores in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, and Estonia. In Sweden, company spokesman Carlos Cancino stated that units at six of Coop’s roughly 800 stores either stopped working entirely or were partially impaired, though he added he had not received information confirming a cyberattack.

Meanwhile, one Swedish store in Sjobo posted on Facebook that its fridges and freezers had been hacked and set to 50 degrees Celsius, with spokesperson Helena Johansson stating the company was investigating the scale of the incident. The incidents also targeted cold storage units used by France’s national blood service, though technicians managed to disconnect the systems before blood products were destroyed.

Diplomatic Retaliation and Sanctions

French authorities summoned the Iranian ambassador to lodge a very strong protest against this extremely grave act. Barrot stated that France will pursue European Union sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities involved in the attacks.

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