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French blood plasma storage hit by hackers in widening cyberattack campaign

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Attackers attempted to force refrigeration units to extreme heat levels across three facilities operated by the French Blood Establishment. Personnel responded to immediate system alerts by securing or relocating stored plasma bags used for life-saving transfusions and medical manufacturing. France's national cybersecurity agency and the health ministry are now investigating the intrusion to establish how the supplier was compromised. Normal blood collection and distribution activities continue under tightened surveillance protocols.

Key points

  • Critical blood collection and distribution operations across France remain fully function…: Critical blood collection and distribution operations across France remain fully functional without any reported product loss.
  • European cyberattacks on industrial refrigeration networks have expanded from commercial…: European cyberattacks on industrial refrigeration networks have expanded from commercial supermarkets to vital public health infrastructure.
  • French cybersecurity agency ANSSI and the health ministry are actively investigating the…: French cybersecurity agency ANSSI and the health ministry are actively investigating the breach to identify the perpetrators.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A cyberattack targeting refrigeration systems at three French blood bank sites attempted to raise storage temperatures to extremely high levels, but was detected and thwarted before any blood products or samples were compromised, French authorities said.

The incident on Monday targeted a supplier of refrigeration equipment used by the French Blood Establishment (EFS), which oversees the country's blood collection and distribution network.

The attack accompanies a wider wave of cyberattacks on refrigeration systems across Europe, with supermarkets in several countries reporting spoiled food after hackers remotely tampered with their fridges and freezers, causing losses worth millions of euros.

The EFS said in a statement late Tuesday that temperature and defrosting thresholds at three of its plasma storage sites had been raised to extremely high levels. However, monitoring and alarm systems quickly detected the irregularities, allowing staff to intervene before any damage was caused.

“No health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost,” the EFS said.

In a statement to Sky News, the EFS said the incident had affected a limited number of its sites and that further…

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