French Blood Banks Thwart Refrigeration Cyberattack at 3 Sites as Hackers Raised Storage Temperatures
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Nov 4
French Blood Banks Thwart Refrigeration Cyberattack at 3 Sites as Hackers Raised Storage Temperatures
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Nov 4
Summary
Three French Blood Establishment sites were hit after hackers altered external cold-storage settings, pushing temperature and defrost thresholds to excessively high levels in units holding blood products, plasma and biobank samples.
EFS said alarms triggered quickly, letting staff regain control or shut equipment down and transfer samples to other facilities; no blood products or samples were lost.
The agency is now working with France's ANSSI cyber authority and the Health Ministry while increasing equipment monitoring, and the ministry said blood-supply safety was preserved.
The incident extends a wider European refrigeration hacking wave that has already struck hundreds of supermarkets in France, Belgium, Sweden and Finland, causing potentially millions of euros in spoiled food.