French Blood Bank Systems Hacked, Temperatures Spike Before Staff Intervene

French blood bank authorities confirmed that a cyberattack successfully manipulated the temperature settings at three plasma storage sites on Monday. The intrusion targeted the refrigeration systems managed by the French Blood Establishment, or EFS. Staff detected the anomaly through monitoring systems and adjusted the units before the heat could damage the stored blood products.

The attack attempted to raise internal temperatures from their standard minus 30 Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) to as high as 110 Celsius (230 Fahrenheit). This extreme shift threatened bags of plasma intended for transfusions and raw materials used in medicine manufacturing. The EFS stated that no health consequences were identified and no blood products were lost during the incident.

The technical vulnerability originated with Coolworld, a supplier of refrigeration equipment. Coolworld acknowledged the cybersecurity incident in a statement released after the breach. The company noted that the flaw involved a component from a third-party supplier outside its direct control. Only a limited number of units were affected, and Coolworld said it was taking appropriate measures to address the issue.

This event follows a series of similar cyberattacks on refrigeration infrastructure across Europe. In mid-October, hackers targeted freezers at hundreds of supermarkets in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Those earlier intrusions caused tons of food to spoil, resulting in millions of dollars in losses for affected retailers. The current incident marks the second major disruption to cold-storage systems in the region within three weeks.

Dutch supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize, which was heavily affected by the October hack, provided new financial estimates on Wednesday. CEO Franz Muller said the cyberattack is expected to reduce fourth-quarter sales by as much as 250 million euros (281 million dollars). Operating income for the period is projected to drop by over 100 million euros (112 million dollars). Muller described cyber threats as an increasingly harsh reality of doing business.

France's national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are currently investigating the latest breach. The Health Ministry has not yet indicated which group might be responsible for the attack. EFS reported that blood collection and distribution operations remain uninterrupted. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities continue to receive their usual supply of plasma and blood products.

Coolworld had previously taken some systems offline in response to the October incident, including websites and apps for its various brands in Europe and the United States. The company attributed those disruptions to malicious actions by external actors. With the new attack on blood banks, authorities are examining the extent of the threat to critical infrastructure. The investigation into the source and scope of the Monday hack is ongoing.