A cyberattack targeting refrigeration systems at three French blood bank facilities attempted to raise storage temperatures to extremely high levels, but security systems detected the incident before any blood products or samples were damaged, French authorities said.
The incident follows reports this week that supermarkets in several European countries experienced disruptions after hackers remotely accessed their refrigeration systems, causing refrigerators and freezers to warm up and resulting in millions of euros in spoiled food.
The French Blood Establishment (EFS) said in a statement released late Tuesday that temperature and defrosting settings at three plasma storage facilities were raised to extremely high levels on Monday.
Monitoring systems quickly detected the abnormal activity, allowing staff to intervene before any damage occurred, the organisation said.
French weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, which first reported the attack, said hackers had attempted to change storage temperatures from the normal minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) to as high as 110 degrees Celsius (230 degrees Fahrenheit).
The attack targeted a supplier of refrigeration equipment used at three EFS facilities. The affected storage units contained plasma bags intended for transfusions and plasma used in medicine production. The products were either transferred to other facilities or secured, according to the EFS.
"No health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost," the organisation said.
The EFS added that blood collection and distribution activities continued without interruption, ensuring uninterrupted supplies for patients at hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
Coolworld, the company supplying the refrigeration equipment, said it was aware of the cybersecurity incident.
In a statement, the company said the vulnerability reported in the media involved a component supplied by a third party and was beyond its direct control. It added that only a limited number of units were affected and that appropriate measures were being taken.
France's national cybersecurity agency and the Health Ministry are investigating the incident.
The latest attacks on refrigeration systems resemble a cyberattack in mid-October that affected refrigerators and freezers at hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores across France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Dutch supermarket chain Ahold Delhaize, one of the companies affected by the earlier incident, said Wednesday that the cyberattack could reduce its fourth-quarter sales by up to 250 million euros ($281 million) and lower its operating income by as much as 100 million euros.
"While most of the disruption was contained within two weeks, work continues to fully restore our normal operations," CEO Franz Muller said in a statement accompanying the company's quarterly earnings report.
He also warned that cyber threats had become an increasingly serious reality for businesses.
The company had earlier attributed the disruption to "malicious actions by others" and proactively shut down some of its systems, including websites and applications for several brands operating in Europe and the United States.