Cyberattack targets French blood banks, sending cold stores soaring in temperature

A CYBERATTACK HAS targeted cold stores housing donated blood supplies in France, authorities said Wednesday, the latest in a series of suspected hacks that has raised alarm across Europe.

A “cybersecurity incident” targeting a refrigeration service provider on Monday affected monitoring and control systems at three sites, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said.

The HSE confirmed that no blood banks in Ireland were attacked.

The cold stores in France – which contained blood samples as well as bags of plasma intended for transfusions and the manufacture of medicines – were hacked and programmed to reach 110C instead of -30C, according to French magazine Le Canard Enchaine.

But EFS said there had been “no health impact” and that “no loss of blood products” had been reported.

Institutions and companies are on high alert over cyberattacks in Europe after a series of suspected hacks targeting supermarket refrigeration systems caused widespread disruption in recent days.

Health Minister Stephanie Rist’s office said the facilities’ monitoring and alarm systems had ensured the safety of the blood supplies.

The health ministry said investigations had begun to establish how the incident happened, but gave no indication of who might be behind the cyberattack.

On Monday, 13 SuperValu stores were hit by a cyberattack that sent their fridges soaring in temperature overnight.

Chilled and frozen products had to be removed from sale at the affected branches as a precaution.

Musgrave said that the incident was limited to a specific model of refrigeration equipment. Its monitoring systems had detected the issue, prompting immediate action.

Supermarket chains in Sweden and Belgium were also impacted.

Musgrave said it was working with equipment suppliers and cybersecurity specialists to investigate the incident and restore normal operations.