Cyberattack hits French blood bank site, no blood products compromised

Life-saving blood products such as these plasma packets became the latest target of a large-scale cyber attack in several French regions. People who came to donate blood found it hard to believe. It's sad. There are sick people, families and pregnant women who are waiting to receive blood. This kind of act puts lives in danger. These products are meant to be protected. It's blood, it's vital stuff. I'm surprised and a little shocked, yes. It shocks me a little. Overnight on Sunday, hackers took control of the IT system of a contractor working with France's National Blood Service, EFS, in three different regions. Freezers, normally set at minus 30 degrees, suddenly received an order to defrost. An alert was sent to the service's headquarters, where staff quickly cancelled the abnormal command at two sites. At the third, plasma bags were moved to another freezer as a precaution. Because we detected it quickly, we were able to take the necessary measures immediately, and as a result, none of the products were affected. Cool World, the supplier of cold storage facilities used in blood banks, said the incident was related to a third-party supplier, adding that only a small number of units were affected. Recent coordinated cyber attacks targeted other establishments, such as supermarkets in Belgium and Sweden earlier this week and those in France last month. This type of attack is quite simple in theory, because if the fridges are connected to the internet to allow users to remotely control them, then cybercriminals can also enter the system. I'm going to go into these fridges. The French health ministry says an investigation has been opened to better understand the hackers' methods and to ensure that no other site is vulnerable to new attacks.