Cyberattack on blood bank freezers thwarted, follows supermarket fridge hacks - WMBF
French authorities thwarted a cyberattack targeting blood bank freezers that attempted to raise temperatures to dangerously high levels.
The French Blood Establishment, or EFS, confirmed that temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to extremely high levels on Monday at three of its cold-storage sites for plasma. Monitoring systems quickly detected the problem, allowing staff to take action before any blood products or samples were compromised.
Attack Details
According to French weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, which first reported the cyberattack, the attack attempted to reset temperatures that normally are at minus 30 Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) to as high as 110 C (230 F). The cyberattack hit a supplier of refrigeration equipment at three EFS sites.
The products stored were bags of plasma intended for transfusions and plasma used to manufacture medicines, which were either transferred or secured. The blood bank confirmed no health consequences have been identified and no blood products were lost.
Company Response
The company supplying the refrigeration equipment, Coolworld, said it "is aware" of the cybersecurity incident. "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 statement said.
The vulnerability currently being reported in the media relates to a component from a third-party supplier and was outside Coolworld's direct control.
Broader Context
This week's cyberattacks on refrigeration systems mirrored an episode in mid-October that targeted fridges and freezers at hundreds of supermarkets across France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize said the attack could reduce its fourth-quarter sales by as much as 250 million euros ($281 million).
While most of the disruption was contained within two weeks, work continues to fully restore our normal operations.
France's national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are investigating the blood bank incident. Ahold Delhaize CEO Franz Muller noted that "cyber threats are an increasingly harsh reality of doing business today" as the company works to restore normal operations.
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