Hackers crank France’s blood storage temperatures to 110°C
One more reason why cybersecurity matters even when it’s just a fridge.
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- Attackers changed temperature settings at France’s national blood service refrigeration facilities.
- EFS says monitoring systems helped detect the attack quickly, and no blood products were altered.
- The breach likely involved a third-party refrigeration contractor, but officials have not named attackers.
- Analysts found nearly 13,000 vulnerable refrigeration services across 99 countries.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
First the food storage, now the blood. The hackers are really putting Europe on the line.
The devastating news reached France on November 2nd. Overnight, unknown intruders attacked France’s national blood service – the French Blood Establishment (EFS) storage facilities.
After breaching the automated refrigeration system, attackers reset the temperature setting to 110 °C, the boiling point. Normally, the blood plasma is stored at -30 °C or colder.
Initially, it was considered that only the donor samples retained for blood safety monitoring were involved in the attacks. EFS later told Le Canard enchaîné, the publication that broke the story, that frozen plasma intended for transfusion was also involved.
"Anomalies have been reported, resulting in an alteration of the operating parameters of cold rooms, equipped with the solution of the establishment's service provider," the EFS specifies in a press release shared with Le Parisien.
The hero of the day was an on-call technician who noticed rising temperatures and alerted the response teams.
What was affected after hackers breached France’s blood facilities?
EFS stated that "no blood samples or products" have been altered due to the attack.
"The EFS's monitoring and alarm systems made it possible to quickly identify these anomalies and take the necessary measures," EFS stated in the release.
Some of the stored products have been transferred to other facilities to protect them from the incident.
Who is behind the attacks on France’s blood center?
EFS is using a third-party contractor, Coolworld, to manage refrigeration systems. It is likely that the attackers have breached the contractor to access the EFS fridges with blood.
So far, there has been no public briefing on the potential attackers and attack vectors. However, the attacks fit a pattern of recent attacks against European refrigeration systems that froze food providers.
The incidents have raised concerns about growing hybrid threats to critical infrastructure amid heightened security tensions following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Analysts have previously suspected Russia-aligned actors. Just today, two of the prominent hacktivist groups, NoName057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance, have claimed shared responsibility for the recent attack on food stores in multiple European countries.
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Multiple European sectors at risk of attacks
While supermarket chains and shop operators threw tons of rotted food across Europe, disruptions in the healthcare sector may have far more severe consequences, such as blood shortages or interrupted medical procedures, putting Europeans at risk.
A vulnerability in the Danfoss AK-SM 800A controller was discovered at the beginning of August, leading to a spree of attacks.
Danfoss issued patches to address security issues, but reportedly the affected businesses were still using default passwords.
The risk of similar attacks remains high, as many systems remain flawed. Forescout cybersecurity analysts identified nearly 13,000 refrigeration services that are still vulnerable across 99 countries, with many systems exposed in Italy and Greece.
