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Hackers reset French blood-service cold storage toward 110C, reports say
Le Canard enchaîné, as carried by The Telegraph and Anadolu, says attackers changed Coolworld freezer settings for France's EFS overnight Nov. 1-2; the health ministry said there was no operational disruption.
- telegraph.co.uk is now reporting this
- New headline Was: “Hackers hit French national blood bank”
- Our desk filed its story
Hackers remotely changed temperature settings on cold-storage equipment used for France's national blood service, The Telegraph reported, citing French weekly Le Canard enchaîné1. Anadolu Agency, also citing the weekly, said the incident ran overnight from Sunday to Monday and targeted Coolworld, a firm that maintains storage containers for the Établissement français du sang (EFS).
The Telegraph said Coolworld facilities were heated to 110C after attackers gained remote access to the settings1. Anadolu said the units are normally kept at about minus 30C to preserve donor blood samples and were reportedly reprogrammed to reach 110C. Neither account said the products themselves reached that temperature1.
EFS said an on-duty technician detected a rise in temperatures overnight, Anadolu reported. France's Health Ministry said the incident caused no operational consequences because it was detected. The Hindu likewise reported that the ministry said hospital supplies and transfusion services were not disrupted.
Anadolu said the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region was among the sites named in the Canard account. EFS initially said the affected samples were stored for transfusion-related health monitoring. The Hindu reported that later statements said frozen plasma meant for transfusions was also in the affected units.
Who carried out the intrusion, how the settings were reached, how many units were involved, and what temperatures the stored products actually hit were not established in these reports1.
