tech
Cyberattack hits cold rooms storing French blood donations, with no health impact
Hackers hit cold rooms storing French blood donations, but the EFS says no health impact has been identified.
Key points
- EFS says the hackers affected cold rooms storing blood, but staff intervened to protect blood supplies.
- EFS said no health impact has been identified and no loss of blood products is to be reported.
- Experts say Iranian hacktivists, nation state hackers or teenagers could also be behind the attacks, not only Russian groups.
Why it matters. The attacks show that medical cold storage may be vulnerable to hackers, and experts say the coordinated freezer hacks could continue to affect European facilities.
The French Blood Establishment (EFS) said hackers affected cold rooms storing blood, with temperatures set to rise, but staff intervened to protect supplies. Until now only supermarkets were known to have been hit by the freezer hacks. Russian hacktivist groups Noname057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance reportedly claimed responsibility on Telegram, but their posts have since been deleted and the claims are met with scepticism.
Latest updates
Cyberattack hits cold rooms storing French blood donations, with no health impact
The French Blood Establishment (EFS) said cold rooms storing blood were affected by hackers, with temperatures set to rise. French authorities say fridges used in medical facilities to store donated blood were hit by recent cyber-attacks by unknown hackers. Staff intervened to protect the blood supplies. The EFS said no health impact has been identified and no loss of blood products is to be reported. Investigators have not publicly identified the culprits, and theories about who was responsible are circulating. The incident highlights the risk of cyber-attacks on operational technology in healthcare.