Hackers target France’s blood bank freezers, reprogram storage to 110°C

Hackers target France’s blood bank freezers, reprogram storage to 110°C | Photo Credit: Reuters A major cyberattack targeted cold storage facilities of France’s national blood agency, Etablissement Francais du Sang (EFS), after hackers breached systems to remotely heat freezers holding donor blood samples and plasma.The incident was reported between November 1 and 2, when unknown bad actors compromised Coolworld, a key refrigeration maintenance contractor for EFS.They reprogrammed cold storage units, typically kept at a freezing −30°C to safely preserve blood products, by pushing temperature settings up to 110°C (230°F).However, an on-duty technician noticed this abnormal overnight temperature spike on monitoring systems, and averted the damage. Rapid emergency protocols allowed technical teams to intervene before permanent damage affected the inventory.France’s Ministry of Health confirmed that the breach was contained with zero operational disruption to hospital supplies or transfusion services.While the EFS initially reported that the impacted containers held routine health-monitoring blood samples, official statements later confirmed that frozen plasma meant for medical transfusions was also stored within the affected refrigeration units.The incident coincided with a broader wave of cyber intrusions targeting networked industrial cooling systems, including supermarket refrigeration across roughly a dozen European nations. Published - November 04, 2026 03:46 pm IST