A cyberattack on refrigeration equipment at three French blood service facilities threatened plasma supplies used in transfusions and medical treatments, but emergency safeguards prevented product losses and interruptions to patient care.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
PARIS — Hackers attempted to destroy blood plasma supplies at three French medical storage facilities by remotely changing refrigeration settings to temperatures as high as 230 degrees Fahrenheit, French authorities confirmed Wednesday, Nov. 4.
The attack targeted refrigeration control systems used by the French Blood Establishment, known as Établissement français du sang (EFS), the national organization responsible for collecting, processing and distributing blood products to hospitals throughout France.
The incident occurred overnight Nov. 1-2 and involved equipment maintained by Coolworld, a Dutch refrigeration services company. According to Infosecurity Magazine, attackers gained access to systems controlling cold-storage equipment at three facilities, where plasma and biological samples were kept at extremely low temperatures.
French investigative newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné reported that hackers changed temperature settings from approximately minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit to 230 degrees Fahrenheit, equivalent to a change from minus 30 degrees Celsius to 110 degrees Celsius.
The reported 230-degree figure represented the temperature programmed into the equipment, not a confirmed temperature reached by the stored plasma.
The attempted manipulation could have rendered the supplies unusable if temperatures had risen sufficiently to compromise the biological materials.
However, monitoring systems detected the abnormal settings before any products were damaged.
“Monitoring and alarm systems quickly detected the anomalies, allowing staff to take action to ensure that no blood products or samples were compromised,” EFS said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.
Medical personnel secured the affected refrigeration equipment and transferred vulnerable supplies to other storage facilities.
“No health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost,” EFS said.
The agency confirmed that blood collection, processing and distribution continued without interruption, ensuring hospitals retained access to supplies needed for patient treatment.
The affected facilities stored plasma intended for transfusions and plasma used in manufacturing pharmaceutical products.
Plasma is the liquid component of blood and contains proteins, antibodies and clotting factors essential for treating patients with severe bleeding, immune disorders and other medical conditions.
Some plasma products require prolonged storage at freezing temperatures to maintain their therapeutic properties. Significant temperature changes can damage those materials and potentially make them unsuitable for medical use.
According to BleepingComputer’s investigation, the intrusion affected the refrigeration supplier rather than EFS’s internal computer network.
Coolworld acknowledged the incident and said the reported security weakness involved technology supplied by another company.
“The vulnerability currently being reported in the media relates to a component from a third-party supplier and was outside Coolworld’s direct control,” the company said.
“Only a limited number of Coolworld units were affected, and Coolworld responded promptly and took appropriate measures.”
Coolworld said it was cooperating with affected customers while addressing the security issue. The company did not publicly identify the perpetrators or provide further technical details about how the systems were compromised.
France’s Health Ministry said remote access to the affected refrigeration equipment had been disabled as a precaution.
The ministry and France’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, are investigating the intrusion and working with EFS to strengthen safeguards.
The case has attracted particular attention because it follows a series of cyberattacks against refrigeration equipment in European supermarkets.
In October, hackers manipulated remotely connected refrigeration systems at hundreds of grocery stores in France, including locations operated by Intermarché, Carrefour Market, Monoprix, Leclerc and Super U.
Attackers reportedly activated defrost functions or altered temperature settings, causing refrigerated and frozen products to spoil.
A subsequent wave of attacks affected supermarkets in Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia.
According to Reuters, the incidents exposed vulnerabilities in internet-connected industrial equipment, particularly systems that use outdated software, weak authentication or insufficiently secured remote-access functions.
Some refrigeration controllers can be accessed remotely by technicians to adjust operating conditions, monitor temperatures and identify maintenance problems. Those same capabilities can create security risks if attackers obtain unauthorized access.
Cybersecurity experts have warned that manipulating operational technology can cause physical damage even when attackers never enter the targeted facility.
In the supermarket attacks, compromised refrigeration equipment caused substantial financial losses through spoiled inventory and disrupted operations.
Dutch grocery retailer Ahold Delhaize said the earlier cyberattack could reduce fourth-quarter sales by as much as 250 million euros and operating income by approximately 100 million euros.
The targeting of medical refrigeration equipment raises additional concerns because hospitals and blood services depend on precisely controlled storage conditions to preserve supplies needed for patient care.
Unlike grocery products, donated blood and plasma may be difficult to replace quickly, particularly when supplies involve specialized treatments or products requiring extensive processing.
France’s blood service said its existing alarm systems and emergency procedures were critical in preventing losses.
The incident also illustrates the potential consequences of cyberattacks against third-party contractors responsible for maintaining equipment used in essential services.
Although EFS was not directly compromised, a security incident involving its refrigeration provider was sufficient to affect equipment at multiple medical storage locations.
Authorities have not identified the hackers or established whether the blood storage attack was carried out by the same individuals responsible for the supermarket incidents.
Investigators also have not publicly confirmed which software vulnerability or access method was used in the intrusion.
The American Hospital Association’s Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center issued a November 4 threat bulletin drawing attention to the reported incident and the potential risks posed by cyberattacks against refrigeration systems used in health care.
The bulletin highlighted how vulnerabilities in industrial control equipment can extend beyond commercial operations into facilities responsible for critical medical supplies.
For EFS, the immediate danger was contained before damage occurred. French officials said plasma supplies remained intact, no patients were harmed and hospital distribution services continued normally.
The investigation now centers on identifying the source of the intrusion, securing vulnerable equipment and preventing similar attacks against medical refrigeration systems.
The attempted sabotage demonstrates how unauthorized access to industrial equipment can threaten essential health care operations without requiring attackers to compromise hospital medical records or conventional information technology networks.
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