Hackers Overheat French Blood Cold Stores in Fridge Attack Wave

Hackers raised temperatures at three cold stores holding blood products for France's national blood service, the EFS said, but its alarm systems let technicians step in before the products were compromised. The Guardian reported that the attack appears to escalate a run of cyber-attacks on refrigeration systems across Europe.

For patients, the EFS's account is that supplies were protected. For shoppers and retailers, the wider wave has already caused food damage worth millions of euros.

What happened at the blood service cold stores

According to the Guardian, the EFS said the attack took place overnight on Monday. Intruders reached control systems and pushed temperature and defrosting thresholds to “very high levels.”

The EFS said it was not the direct target. The affected cold stores are run by its contractors. Products kept in the rooms, including plasma bags for transfusions and for medicine manufacturing, were moved to other sites. The service said it alerted France's national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, and the health ministry, and has reinforced monitoring of all its equipment.

What this means for patients and shoppers

The EFS is France's public blood transfusion operator. It collects, tests, prepares and distributes blood, plasma and platelets to more than 1,900 hospitals and supports more than a million patients a year. Based on the service's statement, the products in the three affected cold stores were not spoiled and were relocated, so the incident was contained at that stage.

The same period brought more visible disruption in retail. The Guardian reported that temperatures in refrigerators and freezers at supermarkets in almost a dozen European countries climbed as high as 50C (122F), spoiling food. Retailers in Italy, Germany, Romania and the UK were hit on Tuesday. Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden had reported refrigeration problems the day before.

In France, a wave of attacks last month let hackers seize control of cooling units in as many as 700 supermarkets, the Guardian said. It also reported that a regional branch of the bank Crédit Mutuel said on Wednesday it had been the victim of a cyber-attack. The article does not link that incident to the refrigeration attacks.

Who is behind it, and what authorities say

No one has claimed responsibility, and no motive is known. Thomas Regnier, an EU spokesperson, declined to name possible culprits. He said the incidents were “not isolated” and that EU agencies were holding urgent talks with national authorities to shape a collective response. Italy's government held emergency talks with intelligence officials on Tuesday.

Some authorities and experts fear state-sponsored hybrid attacks in the aftermath of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian reported. Western intelligence officials say Moscow is running a sabotage campaign in Europe that takes many forms. Rafe Pilling, senior director for threat intelligence at the cybersecurity firm Sophos, told the Guardian the most plausible explanations were a state showing off its capabilities or a lone hacker.

Why refrigeration systems can be reached

According to the Guardian, a growing range of devices, including commercial refrigeration systems, can be monitored and controlled remotely. Internet-connected software that is not patched to fix newly found vulnerabilities can leave code open to hackers.

The newspaper also noted a possible parallel in the United States. In early August, a series of unexplained fridge malfunctions hit commissaries at at least six military bases, and the Pentagon is investigating a suspected hack.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian