By Ahmed Abdelsalam
France's national blood service says hackers accessed control systems and raised temperatures at three cold stores storing vital blood products, part of a wave of cyber-attacks on refrigeration systems across Europe.
Attack on Blood Service
The French blood service (EFS) said temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to "very high levels" overnight on Monday. Alarm systems allowed technicians to intervene before the products were compromised. EFS is France's public blood transfusion operator, collecting, testing, preparing and distributing blood, plasma and platelets to more than 1,900 hospitals and supporting over a million patients a year. Products stored in the affected rooms, including plasma bags for transfusions and medicine manufacturing, have been moved to other sites. The national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) and the health ministry have been alerted, and monitoring of all equipment has been reinforced.
Supermarket Freezers Hit Across Europe
At the same time, supermarkets in nearly a dozen European countries saw refrigerator and freezer temperatures soar as high as 50°C (122°F), causing millions of euros in food damage. Retailers in Italy, Germany, Romania and the UK were targeted on Tuesday, after Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden reported problems with their refrigeration systems the previous day. In a wave of attacks in France last month, hackers seized control of cooling units in as many as 700 supermarkets.
Wider Pattern and Investigations
A regional branch of France's Crédit Mutuel bank said on Wednesday it had been the victim of a cyber-attack. Similar incidents may have occurred in the US in early August, when mysterious fridge malfunctions hit commissaries at at least six military bases; the Pentagon is investigating a suspected hack. After Italy's government held emergency talks with intelligence officials, an EU spokesperson said the bloc's agencies were holding urgent discussions with national authorities to formulate a collective response. "These are not isolated incidents and of course we have to be collectively resilient and prepared for such cyber incidents," the spokesperson said, declining to name potential culprits. No motive is known and no one has claimed responsibility.
Expert Views and Concerns
Cybersecurity expert Rafe Pilling of Sophos said the most plausible attribution scenarios were a "state-based signalling and demonstration of capability" or a lone-wolf hacker. Some authorities and experts fear government-sponsored hybrid attacks in the aftermath of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Western intelligence officials say Moscow is waging a campaign of sabotage in Europe taking many forms. A growing range of internet-connected commercial refrigeration systems can be monitored and controlled remotely, and without patching to repair emerging vulnerabilities, such software can leave code open to hackers.
