Cyberattack disrupts blood storage refrigeration systems in France

France's national blood service has confirmed that a cyberattack targeting a refrigeration equipment provider raised temperature and defrost settings at three of its facilities, threatening stored blood products.

The French Blood Establishment (Établissement français du sang or EFS), which manages blood collection, processing, and distribution across France, said the incident occurred on November 2 and affected systems used to monitor and control cold-storage chambers.

According to a statement published on November 3, EFS was not directly targeted in the cyberattack, but was instead its refrigeration supplier.

While EFS has not named the affected supplier, European refrigeration equipment provider Coolworld Rentals confirmed in a statement that a cybersecurity incident involving remote monitoring software had affected a limited number of its refrigeration units.