A cyberattack targeted refrigeration systems at French blood banks on Sunday and Monday, attempting to raise storage temperatures to 110 Celsius (230 Fahrenheit) instead of the required minus 30 Celsius, according to French authorities on Wednesday.
The French Blood Establishment said the attack affected control systems at three cold storage sites for plasma and blood samples. Monitoring and alarm systems detected the temperature anomalies, allowing staff to intervene before damage occurred. The plasma was transferred or secured, and no blood products were lost, the EFS said. Distribution operations were not interrupted.
The attack targeted a refrigeration service provider rather than blood bank systems directly. Coolworld, the equipment supplier, said the vulnerability involved a third-party component outside its direct control.
The cyberattack was part of a broader incident that also hit supermarket refrigeration systems across several European countries on the same dates, destroying frozen food and costing retailers millions of euros. A similar attack targeted French supermarkets three weeks earlier. Dutch supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize said the October cyberattack would reduce quarterly sales by as much as €250 million.
France's cybersecurity agency and Health Ministry said an investigation is underway but did not name a suspected attacker. The Health Ministry disabled remote access to the affected refrigerators.