French blood bank hit in latest cyberattack on fridges

The cooling system of France’s blood bank has been hit by a cyberattack similar to the hacker attack targeting refrigeration systems across Europe earlier this week, the EFS bank said on Wednesday, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

Cooling rooms in three of the bank’s locations have been affected, EFS said.

The refrigeration systems, supplied by an external provider, were manipulated remotely, causing operating temperatures to rise to very high levels, it said.

Temperatures rose from -30 degrees Celsius to plus 11 degrees, according to investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné.

Thanks to the monitoring and alarm systems, the rise in temperature had been detected quickly and action was taken swiftly. No samples or blood products have been compromised, according to EFS.

The affected systems have since been brought under control again, and blood products have been transferred to other facilities as a precautionary measure, it said.

The EFS stores blood products and bio samples, which are kept in cooling units before delivery to healthcare facilities.

It comes after cybercriminals targeted fridges and freezers in European supermarkets, causing them to become warmer, including in Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Estonia, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands.

A similar, large-scale attack in mid-October caused fridges to go warm in large French supermarket chains.