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News • Cold storage manipulation
Cyber incident at blood service highlights importance of cybersecurity in healthcare
A refrigeration equipment supplier of the Établissement français du sang (EFS), France's national blood service, was hit by a cybersecurity incident on November 2nd. The supervision and control systems of cold rooms at three EFS sites were affected.
The EFS was not directly targeted. However, anomalies were reported that altered the operating parameters of cold rooms equipped with the supplier's solution. Temperature and defrost thresholds were set to very high temperatures.
The affected cold rooms are located at EFS preparation and distribution sites. They hold blood products awaiting delivery to healthcare facilities, as well as samples for the EFS biobanks.
"The EFS's monitoring and alarm systems made it possible to quickly identify these anomalies and take the necessary measures so that no sample or blood product was damaged," the EFS said in its statement. Depending on the case, the affected equipment was brought under control without any impact on the products, or it was shut down. In the latter case, the stored products were moved preventively to other facilities.
No health impact has been identified, and no blood products were lost. The products in the affected equipment were plasma bags intended for transfusion and plasma bags intended for fractionation, the process used to manufacture medicines. They were transferred or secured. The EFS says the continuity of blood collection and distribution is guaranteed.
The EFS technical teams are fully mobilised and working with the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI and the French Ministry of Health. Monitoring of the operation and temperatures of all EFS equipment has been reinforced.
The incident shows that cybersecurity in healthcare is also a matter of patient safety. Attacks can reach critical infrastructure such as the cold chain through external contractors' systems, even when the healthcare organisation itself is not the target. In this case, monitoring and alarm systems that the EFS operates itself made the difference.
Source: Adapted from Établissement français du sang press release
05.11.2026
