What to know about 'unprecedented' cyberattacks on refrigerators in France
Last month, hundreds of refrigerators shut down across grocery stores in France. French officials have now squarely blamed a series of cyberattacks they say were carried out by two units of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
A new report from France's cybersecurity agency says hackers from the two units -- Shahid Kaveh and Shahid Shoostari -- operated through several front groups posing as vigilante hackers, including "CyberAveng3rs" and "Cyber Isnaad Front."
On Monday, Paris chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the attacks affected 700 supermarkets across France and announced that her office had issued international arrest warrants for three Iranians "affiliated with the Electronic and Cyber Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps."
France's Cyber Crisis Coordination Centre called the attack "unprecedented in scale and aggressiveness" and identified the three men as Hamid Reza Lashgarian, leader of the IRGC’s Electronic and Cyber Center, and Mahdi Lashgarian and Reza Salarvand, whom she identified as commanders of the Shahid Kaveh unit.
In its report, the cybersecurity agency provided new details about the alleged cyberattacks.
"The systems were compromised overnight, between Sunday, October 11 and Monday, October 12," the report said. "The attackers changed the equipment's defrosting parameters to set high temperatures. This caused significant merchandise losses and at least 15 fires. The affected organizations were mostly in retail, notably the Casino, Leclerc, Coopérative U, Metro, Carrefour and Intermarché groups."
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the Iranian ambassador had been summoned to the foreign ministry, and he threatened further EU sanctions against Iran.
Iran's Foreign Ministry responded Tuesday, calling the accusations "baseless and biased." The statement accused France of projecting its own governance failures, adding that the government was "unable even to control refrigerator temperatures" and was trying to shift the blame onto foreign actors.
A second wave of attacks hit more than 100 establishments across Europe this month. It even affected refrigerators at French blood banks, forcing staff to move some blood to other cold storage units, according to The Associated Press.
French cyber authorities say the attacks fit a pattern of operations by the same unit dating back to at least 2020. These include a cyberattack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2023 and one on a French video display company in 2024, during preparations for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Since the Iran war began in February 2026, security officials have blamed Iranian hackers for a string of cyberattacks, including hacks on US water treatment plants in July and on US-bound oil tankers in August.
