France Blames IRGC Unit for Cyber Sabotage on Retail Refrigeration Systems
France attributed the October sabotage of refrigeration systems at 700 retail sites to Shahid Kaveh, linked to the IRGC. The attacks caused significant food losses and fires.
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What happened
Cyber sabotage of refrigeration systems at retail sites in France.
Who is affected
Large supermarket chains, smaller businesses, butchers, cooperative food-processing plants.
Exploited
The attackers manipulated refrigeration controllers.
What to do
No specific guidance published yet.
France has attributed the sabotage of refrigeration systems at approximately 700 retail sites in October to Shahid Kaveh, an offensive cyber unit associated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The attacks took place during the night of October 11 to 12, 2026.
The attackers manipulated refrigeration controllers, causing abnormal defrost cycles and disabling temperature alerts. This resulted in widespread food losses estimated in the tens of millions of euros and led to at least 15 fires.
Victims of the attack included large supermarket chains and smaller businesses such as butchers and cooperative food-processing plants. The incidents were described as unprecedented in scale and aggressiveness by France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
French authorities identified CyberAv3ngers as a public-facing persona linked to Shahid Kaveh. The French Cyber Crisis Coordination Centre published a report confirming the IRGC's involvement in the attacks.
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office has opened a judicial investigation against the head of the Shahid Kaveh unit and other suspects. Additionally, simultaneous targeting of Schneider Electric equipment at several small hydroelectric facilities was identified.
