Hackers raise temperatures in France's blood storage facilities
EFS technicians intervened before critical products were compromised during a coordinated cyber campaign affecting Europe.
By Matthew Qureshi ·
French blood service operators report that hackers manipulated control systems in three cold storage facilities, pushing temperatures to extreme levels overnight on Monday. The intrusion targeted systems that store essential blood products, including plasma and platelets, for distribution across the country. EFS stated that its alarm systems triggered an immediate response, allowing technicians to restore normal conditions before the inventory was damaged.
This incident occurs during a wider wave of cyberattacks targeting refrigeration units across Europe. In nearly a dozen countries, commercial freezers and fridges in supermarkets have overheated, sometimes reaching 50 degrees Celsius. The resulting heat has caused millions of euros in food losses. Retailers in Italy, Germany, Romania, and the United Kingdom reported disruptions on Tuesday, following issues in Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden the previous day.
France experienced a similar surge in attacks last month, where hackers controlled cooling units in up to 700 supermarkets. A regional branch of Credit Mutuel bank also reported a cyberattack on Wednesday. The pattern of failures mirrors a series of mysterious fridge malfunctions at at least six US military bases in early August, which the Pentagon is currently investigating as a suspected hack.
EFS serves as the public operator for blood transfusions in France, supplying more than 1,900 hospitals and supporting over one million patients annually. The organization clarified that the attack hit cold stores managed by its contractors rather than its direct systems. Products stored in the affected rooms, including plasma bags used for transfusions and medicine manufacturing, have been relocated to safer sites.
EU spokesperson Thomas Regnier confirmed that bloc agencies are holding urgent discussions with national authorities to formulate a collective response. He described the events as a need for collective resilience rather than isolated incidents. Neither the EU nor French officials have named a specific culprit, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Experts point to the increasing connectivity of commercial devices as a primary risk factor. Unpatched vulnerabilities in internet-connected software leave code exposed to remote manipulation. Rafe Pilling, senior director for threat intelligence at Sophos, suggested the most plausible explanations are either state-based signaling or the work of a lone-wolf hacker. Some Western intelligence officials suspect government-sponsored hybrid attacks linked to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
France's national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, and the health ministry have been alerted to the breach. EFS has reinforced monitoring of all its equipment to prevent further intrusions. The blood service continues to distribute products to hospitals while maintaining enhanced surveillance of its infrastructure.
