Cyberattack disrupts refrigeration systems at French blood banks
A cyber intrusion targeting cold-storage monitoring at three French Blood Establishment facilities was contained, with blood supplies remaining safe after staff relocated products to unaffected refrigerators.
Hackers accessed the refrigeration monitoring and control systems at three regional sites of the French Blood Establishment (EFS) overnight between Sunday and Monday, prompting alerts from the French Health Ministry. The intrusion affected cold-storage rooms but did not compromise the blood inventory, as employees quickly transferred the products to refrigerators that were not connected to the compromised network.
"We have staff round the clock since blood can be needed at any time," EFS spokesperson Charley Dubois told Reuters. "They were warned about the problems by alerts and moved the blood to other refrigerators that were not connected."
The Health Ministry reported that remote access to the affected systems had been disabled and that the situation was under control by Wednesday. Authorities are investigating the method of intrusion, the specific equipment involved, and the timeline for safely restoring the systems.
The incident coincided with a series of cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration across eight European countries, which forced retailers to discard perishable goods. Similar attacks had previously hit French supermarkets, affecting major chains such as Carrefour and E. Leclerc.
In the United States, the Army Criminal Investigation Division's Cyber Field Office is cooperating with the Defense Commissary Agency to examine refrigeration failures at several military commissaries. Former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker warned that the tactics seen in Europe could be replicated domestically.
"What we're seeing right now is in Europe and other places, but it can very well happen on our soil," Parker said.