Blood banks in France announced on Tuesday that recent cyberattacks have targeted their cooling systems. These attacks occurred on Sunday and Monday in several European countries, including France and Germany, and compromised the control of cooling systems at three cold storage sites for plasma and blood samples.
Details of the Cyberattacks
The French Blood Establishment (EFS) reported that a "cybersecurity incident" targeted a cooling service provider. This attack attempted to raise the temperature to very high levels, but was prevented before any damage occurred. Plasma in the affected refrigerators was transferred or secured.
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EFS noted: "No health consequences have been identified and no blood products are missing. Our distribution operations have not been disrupted." According to the organization, monitoring and alert systems quickly identified anomalies, allowing staff to take action and prevent damage to products or blood samples.
Investigations and Findings
The French Cybersecurity Agency and the country's Ministry of Health announced that investigations are underway, but did not specify who might be responsible for these attacks. The Ministry of Health also stated that remote access to the affected refrigerators has been disabled and granted authority to monitoring and alert systems to ensure the safety of blood resources.
Coolworld, the supplier of cooling equipment, stated that the vulnerability was related to a component from a "third-party supplier" and was beyond Coolworld's direct control. Additionally, on Sunday and Monday, another cyberattack targeted cooling systems in supermarkets across several European countries, including France and Germany, resulting in the destruction of large quantities of frozen food.
These attacks are reminiscent of a similar attack that occurred three weeks ago on cooling systems in dozens of French supermarkets. These attacks have caused millions of euros in losses to supermarkets due to wasted food. On Tuesday, Dutch supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize announced that it expects this cyberattack to reduce its quarterly sales by up to 250 million euros ($281 million) in October.
Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller said: "While most disruptions were contained within two weeks, work continues to fully restore our normal operations." These attacks have not only severely impacted blood banks but also food supply chains, raising concerns about cybersecurity in critical sectors of society.
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