France’s national blood service, Établissement Français du Sang (the French Blood Establishment, or EFS), has confirmed it was hit by a cyberattack targeting refrigeration systems at three facilities after attackers compromised equipment operated by third-party supplier Coolworld.
The attackers remotely manipulated temperature and defrosting settings in cold-storage units used to preserve blood samples and plasma on November 2.
According to French media reports, refrigeration systems normally maintained at -30°C were reportedly configured to reach temperatures as high as 110°C.
Thankfully, monitoring and alarm systems detected the abnormal settings before any blood supplies were damaged.
"No health impact has been identified and no loss of blood products is to be reported," the EFS said.
French authorities are investigating the intrusion, while EFS has confirmed that blood collection and distribution services remain operational.
The attacks are the latest in a string of incidents targeting refrigerators across Europe. Supermarket fridges in France were initially targeted, followed by widespread attacks across seven EU countries. The incidents left food spoiled and fridges empty of produce.
Professor Raj Rajarajan, Director of the Institute for Cyber Security at City St George's, University of London, said the attacks reveal the risks behind the growing digitisation of fridge and freezer control systems.
“Modern freezer warehouses, refrigerated transport systems, and distribution centres rely on interconnected Industrial Control Systems (ICS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) platforms, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and cloud-based monitoring services. While these technologies improve operational efficiency, they also expand the cyber attack surface,” Rajarajan told Cyber Daily.
"From a security engineering perspective, ensuring the integrity of sensor data and control commands is critical. False temperature readings or unauthorised control actions may remain undetected until significant physical damage has occurred. Consequently, cyber attacks on freezer infrastructure represent a cyber-physical threat with direct implications for food security.
"Mitigation requires a defence-in-depth approach incorporating network segmentation, zero-trust access control, secure remote access, continuous monitoring, real-time attack prediction, post-quantum security, and anomaly detection tailored to industrial environments.”
Jake Knott, head of threat intelligence at exposure management firm watchTowr, commented on the recent supermarket hacks with an almost prescient prediction.
"We've been watching this week as attackers continue to probe the Internet for refrigeration devices, trying old exploits and default credentials to see what works," Knott told Cyber Daily overnight.
"Why these attacks are happening is still an open question. Nobody has claimed responsibility, and there is no sign of attempts to move into corporate networks, ransom demands, or defacement. Nobody has established whether they're even connected. Nobody appears to be pursuing online fame, fortune, or a clear political goal. So far, it's been disruption and nothing else.
"Now that attackers have seen what this can do, the impact, and the headlines, we expect them to keep looking. Anything on the Internet that controls something physical and still uses default credentials should assume it's next on the list.”
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