French Blood Banks Thwart Cyberattack Aiming to Destroy Plasma Supplies
French authorities stopped a cyberattack intended to raise blood bank temperatures to extreme levels. No samples lost despite recent European freezer hacks.
POLICY WIRE — Paris, France — French officials have successfully intercepted a targeted cyberattack that attempted to drive blood bank storage temperatures to dangerous levels before any medical supplies were damaged.
The French Blood Establishment, or EFS, reported late Tuesday that hackers attempted to manipulate temperature and defrosting settings at three plasma storage facilities on Monday. Internal monitoring systems flagged the unauthorized changes immediately, allowing personnel to intervene and ensure that no blood products or samples were compromised.
According to reporting by the weekly publication Le Canard Enchaîné, the breach sought to spike freezer settings from a standard minus 22 Fahrenheit (-30 Celsius) to as much as 230 Fahrenheit (110 Celsius).
The digital intrusion targeted a refrigeration supplier used by the EFS sites. The affected units contained plasma bags designated for patient transfusions and the production of medicines, but the EFS confirmed these items were either moved to safe locations or secured during the incident.
The blood bank stated there have been no health risks resulting from the event and no inventory was lost. Operations for collecting and distributing blood continue without interruption, maintaining stability for hospitals and healthcare providers.
Coolworld, the firm providing the refrigeration hardware, acknowledged it was aware of the situation. The company clarified that the vulnerability involved a third-party supplier component that was outside its direct oversight. Coolworld noted that only a small number of units were impacted and that they are taking necessary measures.
Both France’s Health Ministry and the national cybersecurity agency have launched formal investigations into the matter, though the government has not yet identified the party responsible for the attack.
This incident follows a wave of similar disruptions in mid-October that targeted supermarkets across France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Those previous attacks on food cooling systems resulted in massive financial losses and tons of spoiled inventory.
Dutch retail giant Ahold Delhaize projected Wednesday that the October attacks could slash its fourth-quarter sales by approximately $281 million (250 million euros). The company also anticipates an operating income drop exceeding $112 million (100 million euros).
CEO Franz Muller noted that while most of the chaos was managed within two weeks, they are still working to normalize operations. He emphasized that cyber threats now represent an increasingly difficult reality for modern commerce.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
