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French blood service says fridge hacks raised storage temperatures
The French Blood Establishment said Wednesday that cold-storage units at three of its sites were remotely altered Monday, with no blood products lost after alarms sounded, CNBC reported.
- New headline Was: “Blood banks targeted in latest European fridge cyberattacks”
- Our desk filed its story
The French Blood Establishment said Wednesday that cold-storage equipment holding its products at three sites was compromised in a cybersecurity incident on Monday, CNBC reported1.
EFS said it was not the direct target and that units run by external providers were affected, with temperature and defrost settings raised to excessive levels, according to a statement CNBC said it translated from French1. The units store blood products before delivery to hospitals, samples for EFS biobanks, and frozen plasma used in transfusions and medicines, the organization said1.
Surveillance systems triggered quickly, EFS said; some equipment was brought under control with no impact on products or samples and some was taken offline, with samples moved to other facilities1. It said no samples or blood products were lost and no health impact was identified1.
EFS is coordinating with France's National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and the Health Ministry and has increased monitoring of its equipment, CNBC reported1. The outlet tied the incident to a broader wave of remote hacks on refrigeration systems, including supermarket fridges in France, Belgium, Sweden and Finland1. Who carried out the intrusion and how the settings were changed were not established in the report1.
