Cyberattack disrupts blood storage rooms in France
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Bénin Web TV
A cyberattack altered the settings of cold rooms belonging to the French Blood Establishment, causing reserve temperatures to rise. Staff secured the installations and the organisation said that no blood product was lost and no health consequences were recorded, according to the French Blood Establishment.
Cold rooms belonging to the French Blood Establishment (EFS), the organisation that collects and stores blood products in France, were hit by a cyberattack. The hackers remotely altered the settings to raise the temperature of the equipment, the EFS said.
Staff intervened to protect the reserves. The organisation said that no blood products had been lost and that no health consequences had been identified.
The equipment can be connected to the internet for remote maintenance. After similar incidents in France in October, CERT-FR, the government centre for responding to computer incidents, recommended removing the direct exposure of management interfaces and securing the installations before putting them back into service.
The attack on the EFS came after one that affected commercial refrigerators in Belgium on the night of 1 to 2 November, as part of a series of hacks reported in seven European countries. The attack on commercial refrigerators in Belgium caused refrigeration installations to malfunction. Authorities in several countries are investigating, with no official attribution at this stage.
