Cyberattack on French plasma stores is enough to make your blood boil

Attackers tampered with cold-storage settings used by France's civilian blood service after compromising a refrigeration supplier, the organization said.

The French Blood Establishment (EFS) confirmed the incident on Tuesday, saying its own systems had not been directly targeted. Safeguards prevented any loss of blood products.

The affected equipment stored blood samples and frozen plasma, including plasma intended for transfusion.

"The EFS' monitoring and alarm systems enabled the rapid identification of these anomalies and the implementation of necessary measures to ensure that no blood samples or products were compromised," it said.

"Thus, depending on the circumstances, as soon as the incident occurred, the affected equipment was either brought under control without impacting the products and samples, or neutralized; the products stored in these cold rooms were preventively transferred to other facilities."

The EFS did not name the supplier publicly.

According to reports, attackers changed cold-room temperature settings from -30°C to 110°C. …