A cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at three cold storage sites in France that hold blood and plasma, but it was thwarted and no health impact was reported, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Wednesday. The France blood bank cyberattack, as the EFS described it, was a "cybersecurity incident" aimed at a refrigeration service provider that affected control systems at the sites.
According to DW, the attack attempted to raise temperatures to extremely high levels but was warded off before any damage was done. Plasma in the affected refrigerators was transferred or secured, DW reported.
Le Canard Enchaine, which first reported the incident, said the cold stores were programmed to reach 110 C instead of -30 C, according to France 24. The EFS said there was "no health impact" and "no loss of blood products," and that blood collection and distribution operations remain uninterrupted, France 24 reported.
The Health Ministry said remote access to the affected refrigerators was disabled. It credited monitoring and alarm systems with ensuring the safety of blood supplies, according to DW.
Coolworld, the company that supplies the refrigeration equipment, said the vulnerability related to a component from a "third-party supplier" and was "outside Coolworld’s direct control," DW reported. The supplier is not named in the reporting.
The blood bank attack came amid a wider wave of similar incidents. On Sunday and Monday, a cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at supermarkets in several European countries, including France and Germany, destroying large quantities of frozen food.
Security firm Sekoia said evidence suggested the attack pattern aligned with Russian hacktivists or the Russian government. A Sekoia spokesperson also said the firm had no technical evidence of Russian-speaking groups being involved. NoName057 claimed responsibility, which Sekoia called alleged and doubtful.
On Wednesday, French cooperative bank Credit Mutuel Arkea said it was hit by a similar attack that "enabled fraudulent transactions to be carried out," but that client money was not affected. Only France 24 reports this attack, and other outlets in the available material do not confirm its scope or cause.
BBC World reported that the controller models used in a late-August attack on US military base freezers remain unconfirmed. It also reported that the NoName057 and Z-Pentest Alliance claims about hacking Danfoss are unverified, and that analysts question whether they link to the supermarket attacks.
No party has been formally blamed for the blood storage incident. France’s cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are investigating and have not indicated who was responsible. The EFS has not said how the attacker gained access beyond its statements.
The investigations are ongoing, and no attribution has been made. Security researchers continue to analyze honeypot data for clues.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.