A cyberattack targeted cold storage facilities used by France’s national blood service, with hackers reportedly reprogramming units holding blood samples to reach temperatures of 110 degrees Celsius (230 degrees Fahrenheit), French media has reported.
The attack took place overnight from Sunday to Monday and targeted Coolworld, a company responsible for maintaining storage containers for the French Blood Establishment (EFS), including facilities in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, the report added.
The storage units normally operate at minus 30 degrees Celsius to preserve blood samples collected from donors. However, the hackers reportedly altered their settings to raise the temperature to 110 degrees Celsius.
The EFS reported that an on-duty technician detected a rise in temperatures at the facilities during the night, allowing the incident to be identified.
France’s Health Ministry stated that the incident had no operational consequences as staff detected the problem in time.
The EFS initially explained that the affected samples formed part of a health monitoring system linked to blood transfusions.
The system monitors health-related information associated with blood transfusions, while the affected storage units hold samples used for this purpose.
The reported incident targeted the facilities responsible for preserving these samples, raising concerns over the security of systems used to maintain sensitive health-related materials.
However, the Health Ministry maintained that the incident did not affect operations after the temperature changes were detected.
