Hackers Target French Blood Service Freezers: Setpoint Changed From -30C to 110C, Technician Spots It in Time
Paris, France — Hackers attacked Coolworld, a refrigeration supplier to the French Blood Establishment (EFS), on the night of November 1-2 and changed freezer setpoints from about -30 degrees Celsius to 110 degrees, the French weekly Le Canard enchaine reported on November 3. Facilities in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region were among those affected.
France's Health Ministry said an on-duty technician detected the abnormal readings in time and intervened, and that the incident caused no operational consequences. The EFS first said the affected material was donor samples retained for transfusion health monitoring, then clarified that frozen plasma intended for patient transfusions was also involved. Fresh frozen plasma must be stored at -25 degrees Celsius or below.
The 110-degree figure is a setpoint entered into the control system; it does not mean freezer interiors or plasma actually reached that temperature. No plasma destruction, disrupted transfusion or patient harm has been publicly confirmed, and the number of affected units, the duration of the disturbance and the attackers' identity have not been disclosed.
The incident resembles the refrigeration attacks that have hit supermarkets across several European countries this year: the target was the control system of connected cooling equipment rather than the blood service's information systems. France's cybersecurity agency had previously alerted operators about compromises of related refrigeration controllers.
Related: Supermarket refrigeration systems hit again across Europe
Source: French Blood Establishment (EFS
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：法国血液机构（EFS）在 Avignon 的一处站点。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A French Blood Establishment (EFS) site in Avignon. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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