Security · November 6, 2026
After supermarkets, hackers attack blood refrigerators set to 110 °C in France
Hackers have targeted blood refrigerators that maintain the temperature of transfusion bags following attacks on food refrigeration systems. A cyber attack on a supplier of the Établissement français du sang (EFS), the public entity in France responsible for blood collection and distribution to hospitals, affected systems controlling some of the entity's refrigerated cells. EFS confirmed this to BFMTV after the news was reported by the weekly Le Canard enchaîné, while stating that there were no health consequences or product losses.
According to Le Canard, the attack occurred during the night between November 1 and 2 and targeted Coolworld, the company responsible for maintaining EFS's refrigerated containers. The cells, normally maintained at -30 °C, were reportedly programmed to reach 110 °C, though EFS did not specify the actual temperatures achieved.
EFS clarified that it was not directly hit and that the incident pertains to the supervisory systems of the supplier installed at 'some sites' of the entity. The French weekly notably mentioned the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.
The cells contained blood products awaiting delivery to hospitals as well as samples for biobanks. Among these were plasma bags for transfusions and others intended for LFB, the French public laboratory that produces medicines from plasma.
According to EFS, alarms immediately signaled the anomaly. Depending on the situation, the equipment was brought back under control or deactivated, with products transferred to other cells.
The Ministry of Health stated that remote access to the affected equipment has been disabled and that EFS is collaborating with ANSSI, the national cybersecurity agency. Technical investigations are still underway to determine how the attack occurred, how many pieces of equipment were involved, and when the cells can return to safe operation.
This incident comes about three weeks after attacks in October that affected the refrigeration systems of hundreds of French supermarkets and subsequently spread to other European countries, including Italy.