France Blames IRGC Cyberunit Shahid Kaveh for Supermarket Refrigerator Hacking

French intelligence and law enforcement agencies have attributed a coordinated wave of supermarket refrigeration hacks to an offensive Iranian cyberunit known as Shahid Kaveh. Authorities in Paris stated that the hacking group operates as a specialized cyber warfare unit linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The digital sabotage campaign was executed between October 11 and 12, directly compromising refrigeration control networks across roughly 700 commercial facilities in France. By remotely increasing temperature settings inside commercial cooling units, the attackers spoiled tons of perishable and frozen foodstuffs worth millions of euros. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the operation as unprecedented in its scale and aggression, calling it a major attack on the nation's interests and the security of the French people.

Intelligence Attribution and Judicial Indictments

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said an investigation had been opened into the head of an offensive cyber unit associated with the IRGC and his two deputies. French intelligence dossiers identified Hamid Reza Lashgarian as the commanding official directing the overarching military cyber electronic division. A report by France's spy and cyber agencies also named commanders Mahdi Lashgarian and Reza Salarvand as operational leads directly directing the Shahid Kaveh hacking unit. Barrot said the refrigerators were remotely accessed to start abnormal, indefinite defrost cycles. In response to the breach findings, the French foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador in Paris to lodge a strong diplomatic protest. Shahid Kaveh used the FOFA device search platform to discover and directly access internet-exposed industrial refrigeration controllers with weak or default credentials, according to Aviatrix.

Iranian Rebuttals and Broader Infrastructure Threats

The Iranian foreign ministry categorically rejected the French accusations, calling the claims baseless. Barrot said the government would push for European Union sanctions in response. Similar incidents have since been reported in other European countries, and it is not known whether they are linked.

The cyber sabotage caused at least 15 fires from overheated equipment, generated tens of millions of euros in destroyed inventory, and impacted major retail chains including Casino, Leclerc, Carrefour, Intermarché, and Metro, according to Aviatrix.