Trail of Iran’s fridge hackers traced to US equipment
The Iranian hackers accused of attacking supermarket refrigerators in Europe exploited flaws in similar equipment used in the US and the UK. The French authorities launched an investigation on Monday into Shahid Kaveh, which is part of the cyber and electronic command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is under sanctions from the US. Hamid Lashgarian, its chief, was placed under…
An investigation is underway in France into the Iranian hackers accused of targeting supermarket refrigerators in Europe, as the systems used in the attacks were sourced from US equipment. The Iranian cyber and electronic command, Shahid Kaveh, is currently under US sanctions. Its leader, Hamid Lashgarian, was sanctioned by the US in 2024.
The hackers specifically targeted refrigeration controllers made by Danfoss and Dixell, impacting around 700 mass retail sites in France. The issue of compromised programmable logic controllers (PLCs) was first brought to light in late 2023. Authorities across the globe, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, the UK’s National Crime Agency, and others, have warned of these vulnerabilities.
The PLCs, which control industrial machinery, have been targeted in other attacks as well. In the US, more PLCs have been compromised, some of which were linked to critical infrastructure such as energy, water, and wastewater utilities. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre also issued a warning to energy companies following an attack on a small energy site.
Despite the UK government's reassurance about the resilience of the energy system, cybersecurity firm Tenable reported that CyberAv3ngers, the group behind the attacks, had repeatedly compromised small water utilities, municipal facilities, and rural energy operators due to their exposure to the public internet.
Written by urgent.news from The National UAE's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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