Cyber attack threatens French blood banks

Blood bank sites in France are the latest to be hit by cyber attackers.

The attack, on several blood banks, sought to raise temperatures to extremely high levels but was thwarted before it could do any damage, authorities have said.

Temperatures in cold rooms were affected, but alarm systems at the sites meant that no blood stocks were damaged.

The incident comes after cyber attacks affected the UK meat processing industry and supermarkets in European countries reported that their fridges and freezers warmed up after they were remotely taken over - resulting in spoiled food costing millions of dollars.

The French Blood Establishment, or EFS, said in a statement that "temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to extremely high levels", adding that "no health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost".

In a statement to Sky News the EFS said: "The incident affected a limited number of EFS sites. Further detailed technical information from our service provider will enable us to accurately assess the full extent of the incident.

"The variations concerning the cold rooms system were detected by our monitoring and alarm systems rapidly, allowing our teams to take the necessary action to protect all stored blood products and samples. We are not specifically commenting on the actual temperatures.

"At this stage, we are not in a position to comment on the origin of the cyber incident or identify those responsible. The EFS teams are fully mobilised and working in coordination with the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and the Ministry of Health.

"No impact on the safety of blood products or samples has been identified. All products and samples stored in the affected equipment have either been secured or transferred as a precautionary measure to other facilities.

"In addition, monitoring of the operation and temperatures of all our refrigeration equipment has been strengthened. The continuity of our blood collection and distribution activities is fully ensured."

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(c) Sky News 2026: Cyber attack threatens French blood banks