Hackers attack French blood bank, raising fridge temperatures from -30°C to 110°C
Similar cyberattacks were launched on supermarket fridges across Europe last week.
On November 4th, hackers targeted the French blood bank's storage facilities, causing fridge and freezer temperatures to skyrocket. The French Blood Establishment (EFS) typically keeps its blood refrigeration equipment at -30°C, but hackers managed to push temperatures up to 110°C. Monitoring systems detected the temperature spikes and prompted staff to intervene, averting potential damage to blood products and samples.
EFS stated no health consequences were identified and no blood products were lost. The attack was not a direct hit on EFS but rather affected cold storage units operated by its contractors. EFS, also known as Établissement français du sang, oversees blood collection, distribution, and donation in France. The attack comes after a series of similar incidents targeting supermarket fridges across Europe.
Supermarkets in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Finland were hit. Hackers infiltrated fridge software, allowing them to adjust refrigeration settings remotely. The temperature of fridges and freezers in supermarkets soared to up to 50°C, leading to the spoilage of significant quantities of food.
The origin of the attacks remains unclear, with cybersecurity experts suggesting possible involvement of Russian or Iranian cyberattack groups. However, these groups' involvement is disputed, and some experts believe the attacks were meticulously planned and coordinated. European cybersecurity firms set up "honeypots" to detect and observe the hackers, but they remained focused primarily on European targets.
Written by urgent.news from Mothership's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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