France’s blood collection service confirmed that its refrigerators were hit by cyberattacks at the same time as supermarket fridges across the EU — though blood supplies were not affected.
The French Blood Establishment said Tuesday that monitoring and control systems for cold storage rooms deployed at three of its sites were affected, with temperature and defrosting thresholds raised to “very high levels.”
It was not the direct target of the cyberattacks and no blood samples or products were compromised, the EFS said.
The incident appears linked to a fresh wave of cyberattacks on supermarket refrigerators across Europe, which forced stores to throw out spoiled food. That wave came just weeks after French supermarkets were first hit by a cyberattack that also hit refrigerators.
French media reports said refrigeration company Coolworld is the supplier to EFS. The company said in a statement that it’s aware of the incident and that it “concerns a component supplied by a third-party provider and not directly controlled by Coolworld.” It said only a “limited number” of its units were affected.
In the attacks on supermarkets, refrigerator defrost settings were manipulated so the coolers reached very high temperatures, mirroring the EFS’s experiences. The blood stored in the affected equipment, which included plasma bags for transfusions, has been “transferred or secured,” the EFS said.
French digital minister Anne Le Hénanff said in the country’s Senate today that the recent attacks on the country’s refrigerators “have directly targeted our economy and our supply chain.”
“I would even go so far as to say that, beyond that, their objective may potentially be to undermine the unity of our country and to create anxiety among the population,” she said.
Emile Marzolf contributed to this report.