Following the supermarket refrigerator… ‘Ultra-high temperature’ cyber attack on French blood centers (comprehensive)

It was revealed that while cyber attacks on supermarket refrigerators occurred in France and other European countries, several blood management facilities were attacked by raising the temperature of the facilities to extremely high temperatures.

According to AP and Reuters on the 4th (local time), the French Ministry of Health announced that several local blood centers suffered cyberattacks on the 2nd, but that the situation is currently under control and that there was no damage to blood products stored in these facilities.

The French Blood Institute (EFS) also confirmed the attack and said there was no damage to stored blood.

The blood center explained that “temperature and defrost standards have been raised to extremely high levels” at three plasma refrigerated storage facilities, and that “no health effects have been confirmed and there has been no loss of blood products.”

Citing the French media outlet Le Canard-en-Chenais, AFP reported that the temperature of the refrigeration facility, which should have been -30 degrees, was manipulated to rise to 110 degrees.

This attack targeted a company that supplies refrigeration equipment to these three blood center facilities.

The products stored here were plasma bags for transfusion and plasma for pharmaceutical manufacturing, and all were moved to other locations or safety measures were taken, the blood center said.

The blood center said its monitoring and alert system quickly detected abnormalities so staff could immediately take action to prevent blood products and samples from being damaged.

“Blood may be needed at any time, so we have staff on hand 24 hours a day,” said Blood Center spokesman Charlie Dubois. “An alarm was raised and staff moved the blood to another refrigerator that was not connected to the (remote system).”

The blood center added that since then, all blood collection and blood supply work has been carried out without a hitch.

French national cybersecurity authorities are investigating the incident together with the Ministry of Health.

Previously, in France, a hacking incident occurred last month that raised the temperature of refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets and mart stores to over 50 degrees, and this recently spread to about 10 European countries.

It is believed that the refrigerator hacking incident caused significant damage.

Ahold Del Reyes, a Dutch retailer with stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States, announced today that it expects fourth-quarter sales to decline by up to 250 million euros and operating profit by up to 100 million euros due to this cyber attack.

“The operational disruption was contained within two weeks, but work to return to full normality continues,” said Frans Müller Del Reyes CEO. “Cyber ​​threats are becoming an increasingly harsh reality for business operations today.”

Concerns about European security are growing due to a series of cyber attacks. It is pointed out that as more and more diverse devices and facilities, including commercial refrigeration systems, are inspected and controlled remotely, their vulnerabilities are increasing. Some raise the possibility that it is part of a hybrid war that has increased rapidly since the Ukraine War.

“These are not isolated problems and we need to be collectively resilient and prepared for cyber incidents like this,” said Thomas Renier, the European Commission's technology spokesman, according to the British daily Guardian.