France blames Iran for supermarket fridge cyberattacks, weighs sanctions

France has attributed a wave of cyberattacks targeting supermarket refrigerators to Shahid Kaveh, a cyber unit it said was affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, according to CNBC.

The hacks in October affected about 700 stores and caused tens of millions of euros in damage amid food losses and fires.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Tuesday the government was “not ruling anything out” in its response, including “bans on entering European territory,” and asset freezes.

The attacks

Remote hacks on around 700 grocery stores over the night of Oct. 11 to Oct. 12 caused refrigerators and freezers to heat up by as much as 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).

The soaring temperatures spoiled food and sparked fires, generating tens of millions of dollars in damage. Major French retailers, including Intermarché, E. Leclerc, Carrefour, Monoprix and Coopérative U were targeted.

Investigators found use of Farsi and IP addresses pointing to devices in Iran, according to a statement from the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, which added that the attacks were committed to serve a foreign power, in this case, Iran.

The hacks targeted refrigeration controllers supplied by Danfoss and Dixell, with attackers remotely taking control of the equipment through web interfaces and starting unlimited defrost cycles while disabling the safety alerts on sensors designed to activate when temperatures exceed a set threshold, it said.

France’s response

The French government summoned Iran’s ambassador Tuesday morning after Paris said Monday that the findings of an investigation laid the blame for the hacks on Shahid Kaveh, an affiliate of the cyber unit of the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Barrot told radio station Franceinfo that the French government could respond with bans on entering European territory and the freezing of assets of anyone held responsible, as it looks to deter any further malicious acts conducted against the region.

The Paris Prosecutor’s Office is seeking international arrest warrants, Paris chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

The French government also said Monday that it would propose new European sanctions against any Iranian entities and individuals involved, and summon the Iranian Ambassador.

“France condemns in the strongest possible terms the unacceptable cyberattacks carried out on its territory by the Islamic Republic of Iran against its interests,” France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“This is an unprecedented campaign in terms of its scale and level of aggressiveness, thus constituting the first cyber offensive campaign carried out purely for the purpose of sabotage on national territory.”

“This actor poses a persistent threat to our critical infrastructure. These destructive cyberattacks are unjustifiable, inexcusable, and violate international law,” the ministry said.

CNBC has contacted the Iranian government for comment.

Broader context

France attributes several previous cyberattacks on the country to Iran-based actors, including cyberattacks and “information manipulation campaigns” against the newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024. Those led to sanctions in March 2026 against private Iranian company Emennet Pasargad.

More supermarket fridges elsewhere in Europe were targeted in November, with stores across Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Sweden reporting losses.

French blood banks were also affected on Nov. 2 by cybersecurity attacks, the French Blood Establishment said. Temperature and defrost thresholds at cold storage units used to store blood products and samples headed to healthcare settings and biobanks were “set to excessively high levels,” the EFS said in a statement translated from French to English by CNBC.

European leaders and the public have meanwhile been rattled by a wave of hoax bomb threats that have caused dozens of passenger flights to perform emergency landings.

Why it matters

The attacks demonstrate how connected refrigeration equipment in supermarkets and healthcare facilities can be disrupted remotely, causing food losses, fires, and risks to blood product storage. France’s consideration of entry bans and asset freezes signals a potential escalation in European responses to cyberattacks attributed to state-affiliated actors.

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Sources

• cnbc.com: France blames Iran for fridge cyberattacks, weighs sanctions
• theguardian.com: Trump says US war in Iran ‘effectively over’ as he plays down escalation concerns | Donald Trump | The Guardian

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.