Blood Bank Hack: Temperatures Spike but Supplies Safe
French authorities say a cyberattack targeted plasma storage sites, raising temperatures to extreme levels before staff secured the products.
By Noor Phillips ·
French blood bank officials reported that a cyberattack attempted to heat plasma storage units to extreme temperatures but failed to damage any blood products or samples. The French Blood Establishment, known as EFS, stated in a release late Tuesday that the incident occurred on Monday at three of its cold-storage facilities.
The attack targeted the refrigeration equipment at the sites. According to the weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, which first reported the breach, hackers tried to reset temperatures that normally sit at minus 30 Celsius to as high as 110 Celsius. EFS monitoring systems detected the change in temperature and defrosting thresholds, allowing staff to intervene before the plasma was affected.
The affected units held bags of plasma intended for transfusions as well as plasma used to manufacture medicines. EFS said the products were either transferred to secure locations or locked in place. The organization confirmed that no health consequences were identified and that no blood products were lost. Collection and distribution operations continue without interruption for hospitals and healthcare providers.
Coolworld, the supplier of the refrigeration equipment, said in a statement that it is aware of the cybersecurity incident. The company noted that the vulnerability involves a component from a third-party supplier and was outside its direct control. Coolworld stated that only a limited number of units were affected and that it is taking appropriate measures.
France’s national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are currently investigating the incident. This event follows a series of cyberattacks on refrigeration systems earlier this week. Those earlier attacks targeted fridges and freezers at supermarkets in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, causing widespread spoilage of food products.
Dutch supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize, which was hit in the mid-October episode, said Wednesday that it expects the cyberattack to reduce its fourth-quarter sales by up to 250 million euros. The company also projected a reduction in operating income for the period of up to 100 million euros. CEO Franz Muller said in a statement released with quarterly earnings that work continues to fully restore normal operations.
Muller added that the company had earlier taken some systems offline, including websites and apps for its brands in Europe and the United States, to mitigate the risk. He described cyber threats as an increasingly harsh reality of doing business today.
