EFS reports cyberattack on plasma storage systems
Attackers attempted to raise cold storage temperatures to 110 Celsius at three French blood bank sites, but monitoring systems prevented damage to medical products.
By Julian Schulz ·
French authorities confirmed on Tuesday that a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at three blood bank locations in France. The incident, which began on Monday, involved remote attempts to drastically increase the internal temperatures of cold storage units. Despite the intrusion, the French Blood Establishment, known as EFS, stated that no blood products or samples were compromised.
The attack specifically targeted a third-party refrigeration supplier at EFS facilities that store plasma. The plasma held at these sites is used for both direct patient transfusions and the manufacturing of medicines. According to the EFS, monitoring systems detected the anomaly immediately. Staff intervened quickly to secure the inventory, ensuring that all stored plasma was either transferred to safe locations or properly secured.
Le Canard Enchaîné, the weekly newspaper that first reported the breach, detailed the severity of the attempted intrusion. The attackers tried to reset the temperature settings from a standard minus 30 Celsius to as high as 110 Celsius. Such a spike would have rendered the stored plasma unusable. The EFS confirmed that defrosting thresholds were also raised to extremely high levels during the attack, a tactic designed to disrupt the cooling cycles.
The incident follows a series of similar cyberattacks on commercial refrigeration systems across Europe earlier this week. Supermarkets in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands reported that their fridges and freezers were remotely taken over, causing food spoilage that cost millions of euros. This latest breach of a medical supply chain indicates that the threat extends beyond retail environments into critical healthcare infrastructure.
Coolworld, the company supplying the refrigeration equipment, stated it is aware of the incident. The firm noted that the vulnerability relates to a component from a third-party supplier and was outside its direct control. It said only a limited number of units were affected and that it is taking appropriate measures to address the issue. France’s national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are currently investigating the event.
The disruption to the blood supply has not affected daily operations. The EFS said that blood collection and distribution remain uninterrupted, allowing hospitals and other healthcare facilities to continue serving patients without delay. No health consequences have been identified as a result of the incident.
The timing of the blood bank attack mirrors an episode in mid-October that targeted hundreds of retail stores. Ahold Delhaize, a Dutch supermarket chain affected by that earlier incident, reported on Wednesday that the cyberattack could reduce its fourth-quarter sales by up to 250 million euros. The company also expects its operating income for the period to drop by as much as 100 million euros.
Franz Muller, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said that while most of the disruption was contained within two weeks, work continues to fully restore normal operations. He described cyber threats as an increasingly harsh reality of doing business today. The company had earlier taken some systems offline, including websites and apps for its various brands in Europe and the United States, to mitigate the impact of the attack.
