A cyberattack targeted Coolworld, a contractor that maintains storage equipment used by France’s national blood service, the Établissement français du sang (EFS). French weekly Le Canard Enchaîné said the attack took place overnight from November 1 to 2 and changed refrigeration settings at facilities, including sites in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The units were normally set at about minus 30 degrees Celsius; the attackers changed the setting to 110 degrees.
Anadolu Agency said an EFS technician detected rising temperatures overnight, and that the Health Ministry said the incident caused no operational consequences. The products included blood samples used for transfusion monitoring and frozen plasma intended for transfusions. Newsweek has reached out to EFS, the Health Ministry, Coolworld and cybersecurity officials for comment via email outside office hours.
The blood-storage incident followed a wave of refrigeration problems at European supermarkets on November 2. Incidents have occurred in at least six countries: Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy and Estonia. Fridges and freezers warmed after remote access to their controls was compromised, prompting some businesses to remove or discard food.
The effects varied by location. A Swedish supermarket said its refrigeration units had been set to 50 degrees Celsius. In Athens, a butcher-shop owner told local television that a refrigeration unit had been set to 150 degrees; a technician took about two hours to regain control, and the owner said the meat was not affected.
At the shop, staff disconnected the units’ Wi-Fi to limit outside access. The European incidents came weeks after a larger attack in France. Hackers remotely altered refrigeration controls at hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores, causing temperatures to rise and food losses.
France’s finance minister said about 700 of the country’s 10,000 supermarkets were affected. The investigation focused in part on older refrigeration systems and software that had not received security updates. Connected refrigeration systems let retailers monitor temperatures across stores, receive alerts and arrange remote repairs.
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