France’s national civilian blood service, the EFS, has revealed that it was hit by a cyberattack on Monday (Nov 2), with the hackers raising the refrigerator temperatures to “very high levels”. In a statement released on Tuesday (Nov 3), the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said the monitoring and control systems for cold storage rooms deployed at three of its sites were hit, affecting equipment storing blood samples and plasma used in transfusions.
Hackers targeted a refrigeration equipment supplier, not the EFS itself, the release said. The EFS’ monitoring and alarm systems identified the rising temperatures, and people responded to the attack before any samples or products were compromised or destroyed.
“On November 2, 2026, a refrigeration equipment supplier to the French Blood Establishment (EFS) was the victim of a cybersecurity incident. The monitoring and control systems for cold storage rooms deployed at three EFS sites were affected,” read the statement in the press release.
Despite the cyberattack, EFS said no blood samples or products were compromised, and necessary tweaks were made to ensure the situation remained normal.
“While the French Blood Establishment (EFS) was not directly targeted by this cybersecurity incident, anomalies were reported, leading to alterations in the operating parameters of cold storage rooms equipped with the service provider’s solution. Specifically, temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to very high levels.”
“No health impacts have been identified and no losses of blood products have been reported. The products stored in the affected equipment, including plasma bags intended for transfusion and plasma bags intended for fractionation for the manufacture of medicines, have been transferred or secured.”
According to a report in Business Insiderthe hackers attempted to raise temperatures from -22F to 230F (-30 degrees Celsius to 110 degrees Celsius).
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Coolworld, the refrigeration supplier for EFS, acknowledged the incident in a statement. However, the company clarified that the component involved was sourced from a third-party provider and fell outside of its control.
“The vulnerability currently being discussed in the media concerns a component supplied by a third-party provider and not directly controlled by Coolworld. Only a limited number of Coolworld units were affected, and Coolworld reacted quickly by implementing appropriate measures,” Coolworld said.
The attack comes in the backdrop of hackers targeting refrigeration systems at dozens of European supermarkets. Fridge and freezer temperatures were increased at several stores in countries such as Sweden, Belgium, and Estonia. A Swedish retailer claimed that temperatures were set to 122F in a Facebook post.
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