Cyberattack on French blood bank fridges thwarted before damage to products and samples

A cyberattack on several blood banks sought to raise temperatures to extremely high levels but was thwarted before it could do any damage to blood products or samples, French authorities said. The incident comes after supermarkets in a number of European countries reported this week that their fridges and freezers warmed up after they were remotely taken over, resulting in tons of spoiled food at a total cost of millions of dollars (euros). The French Blood Establishment, or EFS, said “temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to extremely high levels” on Monday at three of its cold-storage sites for plasma, in a statement released late Tuesday. “No health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost,” it said. The cyberattack hit a supplier of refrigeration equipment at three EFS sites. The products stored were bags of plasma intended for transfusions and plasma used to manufacture medicines, and were either transferred or secured, the statement said. “Monitoring and alarm systems quickly detected the anomalies, allowing staff to take action to ensure that no blood products or samples were compromised,” it said. The EFS said blood collection and distribution operations remain uninterrupted, ensuring continued services for patients at hospitals and other healthcare. France’s national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are investigating the incident.