Etablissement français du sang cyberattack refrigeration, Digi Mart USA News (France): The Etablissement français du sang (EFS), France’s national blood agency, has confirmed that one of its refrigeration equipment providers was the victim of a cybersecurity incident on Monday, November 2. The agency said the incident was quickly contained and had “no impact on products and samples” stored at its sites.
According to the EFS statement published Tuesday, November 3, the supervision and control systems for cold rooms deployed at three EFS sites were disrupted. Temperature and defrost thresholds were set to very high temperatures, the agency said, confirming earlier information reported by the Canard enchaîné newspaper.
The affected cold rooms stored plasma bags intended for transfusion or for fractionation into medicines. The EFS said its monitoring and alarm systems allowed staff to quickly identify the anomalies and take the necessary measures so that no sample or blood product was altered.
The agency stated that no health impact had been identified and no loss of blood products needs to be reported. Affected refrigeration equipment was either brought under control or neutralized, and their contents were transferred preventively to other facilities.
The EFS said its technical teams are fully mobilized in coordination with the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) and the Ministry of Health. Temperature and operational monitoring of all its equipment has been strengthened.
The agency did not disclose the name of the affected provider.
