French Blood Service Says 3 Sites Hit by Fridge Hacks as Blood Stores Spiked to High Temperatures
Updated
Updated · WIRED · Nov 7
French Blood Service Says 3 Sites Hit by Fridge Hacks as Blood Stores Spiked to High Temperatures
3 articles · Updated · WIRED · Nov 7
Summary
Three EFS sites handling blood and plasma bags were hit on Nov. 2 when attackers drove cold-room temperatures to very high levels, though the French blood service said no samples were damaged.
EFS said alarms and staff caught the temperature changes quickly and activated fail-safe measures, limiting the incident to a brief disruption.
Unpatched internet-connected refrigeration controllers appear central to the attacks, with researchers citing outdated firmware, weak date-based passwords and internet exposure as key weaknesses.
At least 11 European countries have reported similar supermarket refrigerator attacks in recent days, while earlier incidents hit hundreds of French stores and about six US military-base commissaries.
CISA warned this week that cold-storage systems can be compromised through authentication bypasses, code injection and weak configurations, underscoring broader risks from insecure internet-of-things infrastructure.