EFS confirms attack, EU calls for collective cyber response
2 Nov 4 8:03 AM · 4d ago · 70 articles · 34 posts · 23 comments · 7 sources · development 2 of 4
EFS said thresholds were raised to 'very high levels' but alarms let technicians intervene before any products were compromised; affected stock was moved to other sites. EU spokesperson Thomas Regnier said agencies were holding urgent talks with national authorities, and Sophos analyst Rafe Pilling floated state signalling or a lone hacker as plausible explanations.
“These are not isolated incidents and of course we have to be collectively resilient and prepared for such cyber incidents”
Thomas Regnier, EU spokespersonÉtablissement Français du Sang (EFS) French national blood transfusion serviceCoolworld Refrigeration contractor for EFSThomas Regnier EU spokespersonRafe Pilling Senior director for threat intelligence, SophosNoName (pro-Russian hacker group) Suspected actor
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What was reported 1 claim about this development
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first by PCMag, 3d ago · also Sky News, ITPro, TechRadar, Telegraph, HN Frontpage, Guardian +2
6 more headlines
- Cyber attack threatens French blood banks Sky News · 3d ago
- French blood service hit by cyber attack threatening to turn stocks into “black pudding” ITPro · 3d ago
- Hackers target French blood banks in latest freezer attack amid UK warnings TechRadar · 3d ago
- Hackers hit French national blood bank Telegraph · 3d ago
- French blood banks hacked in latest cyber-attack on Europe The Guardian · 3d ago
- Hackers crack French blood banks, attempt to boil blood at 230 degrees in sick attack NY Post · 3d ago
What people said 24 voices · best of 39 · verbatim
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Cyberattack on France’s national blood service (EFS) via its refrigeration contractor Coolworld. Hackers reset freezers keeping blood donor samples at -30°C to a target of 110°C. The thing that stopped it from destructive impact was an on-call technician who noticed the temperatures going up. Frozen plasma intended for transfusion was stored there…
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Tak už víme, proč se rozcvičovali na kuřatech v supermarketech. Schválně, co ještě se bude muset stát, než někdo přijde s tou brilantní myšlenkou, že by se mrazáky nemusely ovládat přes internet?
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I think this is probably something good to happen because what it is not normal, is that a company, any company, can sell you a half assed product, call it End Of Life with flagrant issues still happening, clean their hands, and leave you with the problem or having to buy another product, with the environmental cost of it plus the economical cost…
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The freezer hardware doesn’t know it can use defroster heaters to increase the temperature. It just turns them on when a defrosting cycle starts, and the cools down to the set temperature when the cycle ends. If you set the temperature from -30 to 0, it’s just going to turn off the refrigeration until it gets to 0. It won’t go into a false defrost…
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What I want to know is: in the French blood bank case, were the fridges connected to the Internet (unfirewalled/VPNed)?
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I am no expert here but what the heck are "vital blood bank refrigerators" doing on the internet??? https://www. theguardian.com/technology/202 6/nov/04/france-national-blood-service-hack-cyber-attack-europe # DigitalSecurity # infrastructure
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Das mit den Lebensmitteln in den Supermärkten ist eine Schande und ein großer wirtschaftlicher Schaden. Aber das ist eine völlig andere Liga, denn hier geht es um Menschenleben.
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So I worked for a company who's product was sensor networks for this exact situation, and the European company who bought us had a cloud-only solution they wanted to replace our on-premise product with. Thankfully most hospitals and research institutions in the states are smart enough to reject cloud-based solutions for this exact reason. In…
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I get that. But it is not really necessary. It cuts costs and some headache for the short term, but exposes critical infrastructure to hackers. Maybe 20-30% decrease in costs. That shouldn't be a thing to chase for something like Blood Plasma storages. But yeah, what can we say.
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RE: https:// mastodon.social/@LukaszOlejnik /117556894144490116 This shouldn’t be seen as a situation where to celebrate an on-call technician, but as one where people above them must be severely questioned about leaving a widely exploited zero-day vulnerability in their infrastructure.
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Not only freezers, but a lot of other appliances have become IoT-integrated to simplify inspection procedures. Instead of the health department looking at each freezer/smoke detector/gas detector/emergency floodlight individually, you can just present them with a report from your building's safety system. Older systems were mostly some industrial…
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This was explained in another thread. Huge systems need to coordinate when to use the compressors because they all can’t at the same time. Also these don’t need to be public facing systems they should be isolated from the internet. These are just lazy installs
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Temperature controls were altered at three of France’s national blood service sites this week amid a wave of cyberattacks affecting refrigeration systems across Europe. https:// therecord.media/france-cyberat tack-blood-refrigeration
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The advent of AI and its ability to find vulnerabilities so quickly is getting out of hand. Yesterday it was supermarket fridges now its fridges that store blood, they should never have been connected to the internet in the first place especially in these times with AI, but all of Europe needs to invest more into their cyber security systems they…
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Never understood why hackers dont go after the rich. Some rich are dumb as anything and also loaded so surely if hackers want money theres an easy target. Unless these hackers are state hackers ie russian and israeli. Trying to manipulate french politics
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This is a very serious escalation which endangers the lives of many people who depend on blood plasma. Rather than asking the usual and downright silly question of 'who was behind this', European citizens are expecting swift and strong retaliation against the russian aggressor and its allies for this attack! https:// cybersecuritynews.com/french-b…
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Yes, especially after this has now been happening again and again. First case can be excused as usual bad practices and lazyness. But it should have been a wake up call causing anyone else operating commercial freezers (or even other equipment) to review if/how they are connected to the Internet. Anyone getting hit now is maliciously incompetent.
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Surveillance and adjustement in temperature in a industrial level, saves time and is more accessible, you have a better understanding of your stock, it's very normal. Now why a blood fridge can go to 110°C that is a good question
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Me in 2006, pushing metaphorical taped glasses up my nose: The conceit that Galactica survives the Cylons' initial attack because they refuse to network their systems is a fun little bit of science fantasy. Me in 2026: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THE BLOOD SUPPLY BE NETWORKED. https://www. cnbc.com/2026/11/04/blood-bank -fridges-cyberattacks.html
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You can learn from TSMC or power grid networks. These networks are highly secure and must be separated into internal and external networks. There shouldn't even be any chance for the external network to access the internal network.Of course, physical ports are also a risk, but they're easier to detect. At least someone has to come in.
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Using the freezers for meat probably wouldn't result in anything bad happening, especially if you clear out and sanitize before. Using the incubators for your lunch is how you get food poisoning.
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I'm probably not the only one noticing a marked increase in hybrid warfare across Europe. Latest stint targeted blood supplies, not your frozen vegetables. Same systems but a more profound escalation IMO (targeting health services). https:// apnews.com/article/france-plas ma-blood-bank-cyberattack-temperature-fridge-12b80bcf93b8404264209e519c204919
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This is easily fixed with data diodes. I can see future industrial appliances and other critical IoT devices with embedded units. You use the read/write port for initial configuration then the diode for permanent monitoring, making it physical impossible to send data to the equipment.
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This is why not everything needs to be "smart". My toaster doesn't need an app. My dryer doesn't need remote start. My tv doesn't need to listen to a watch me to advertise to me more effectively.
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