Cyberattack hits French blood plasma storage cold units, threatening samples but not supplies

In brief

• Hackers remotely changed temperature and defrost settings on plasma freezers at three EFS facilities in France on 2 November.
• Monitoring systems flagged the anomalies and staff moved plasma and samples, so no blood products were lost.
• The incident is being investigated by France's cybersecurity agency and the health ministry; no group has claimed it.

Attack targeted three plasma storage sites

The French blood service EFS said the incident took place on Monday, 2 November, at three of its facilities where plasma is kept in freezers. Temperature and defrost thresholds at those units were pushed to extremely high levels remotely (Fala cyberataków w Europie. Dotknęła też francuskie banki krwi – Onet) (Cyberprzestępcy zaatakowali francuskie banki krwi. Podnieśli temperaturę o 140 stopni – Rzeczpospolita) (Kyberteror ve Francii: Hackeři se pokusili „uvařit“ zásoby v krevní bance – Novinky.cz) (Francie zachytila útok na krevní banky, měl zvýšit teploty na vysoké úrovně – Seznam Zprávy) (У Франції кібератака на холодильне обладнання зачепила об’єкти зберігання плазми крові – Європейська правда). Authorities said the goal was to heat the stored material to very high temperatures.

Staff moved samples before damage

Monitoring and alarm systems flagged the anomalies quickly, and technicians moved the plasma bags and samples to safe locations. The stock included plasma intended for transfusions and plasma used to make medicines. EFS said no health consequences were found and no blood products were lost.

Link to wider wave of attacks

The French incident came days after supermarket freezers in several European countries were remotely manipulated, spoiling food worth millions of euros. Some reports tie the two campaigns together, though officials have not confirmed a single source (Hakerzy uderzyli w banki krwi we Francji. Cyberatak miał zniszczyć zapasy – Onet). Blood collection and distribution continue without interruption, the service said.

Investigation ongoing

France's national cybersecurity agency and the health ministry are investigating (Další kybernetický útok. Francie čelila úderu na krevní banky – iDNES.cz). No group has claimed responsibility and the perpetrators are unknown.