France’s national blood service has said hackers accessed control systems and boosted temperatures at three cold stores stocking vital blood products, in an apparent escalation of recent cyber-attacks on fridges and freezers across Europe.
asserted
hackers → say → Europe
The French blood service (EFS) said temperature and defrosting thresholds had been raised to “very high levels” in the attack, adding that its alarm systems had allowed technicians to intervene before the products were compromised.
asserted
products → say → attack
The EFS is France’s public blood transfusion operator, collecting, testing, preparing and distributing products such as blood, plasma and platelets to more than 1,900 hospitals around the country.
asserted
EFS → collect → country
It supports more than a million patients a year.
asserted
It → support → patients
The attack, which EFS said had occurred overnight on Monday, came as the temperatures of refrigerators and freezers in supermarkets in almost a dozen European countries soared as high as 50C (122F), causing millions of euros of food damage.
asserted
temperatures → say → damage
Retailers in Italy, Germany, Romania and the UK were targeted on Tuesday, after Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden reported problems with their refrigeration systems the previous day.
asserted
Belgium → target → systems
In a wave of attacks in France last month, hackers seized control of cooling units in as many as 700 supermarkets.
asserted
hackers → seize → supermarkets
A regional branch of France’s Crédit Mutuel bank said on Wednesday it had been the victim of a cyber-attack.
asserted
it → say → attack
Something similar may have happened in the US in early August, when a series of mysterious fridge malfunctions hit commissaries in at least six military bases.
uncertain
series → happen → bases
The Pentagon is investigating a suspected hack.
asserted
Pentagon → investigate → hack
After Italy’s government held emergency talks with intelligence officials on Tuesday, Thomas Regnier, an EU spokesperson, said the bloc’s agencies were holding urgent discussions with national authorities to formulate a collective response.
asserted
agencies → hold → response
“These are not isolated incidents and of course we have to be collectively resilient and prepared for such cyber incidents,” he said, declining to name any potential culprits.
asserted
he → isolate → culprits
No motive for the attacks is known and no one has claimed responsibility.
asserted
one → know → responsibility
A growing range of devices, including commercial refrigeration systems, can be monitored and controlled remotely.
asserted
range → grow → systems
Without patching to repair emerging vulnerabilities, internet-connected software can leave code open to hackers.
asserted
software → patch → hackers
Some authorities and experts fear government-sponsored hybrid attacks in the aftermath of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
asserted
authorities → fear → Ukraine
Western intelligence officials say Moscow is waging a campaign of sabotage in Europe that is taking many forms.
asserted
that → say → forms
Rafe Pilling, the senior director for threat intelligence at the cybersecurity company Sophos, told the Guardian this week
asserted
Pilling → tell → Guardian
the most plausible attribution scenarios were a “state-based signalling and demonstration of capability” or a lone-wolf hacker.
asserted
scenarios → base → capability
EFS said it was not directly targeted, with the attacks hitting cold stores run by its contractors.
asserted
attacks → say → contractors
Products stored in the affected rooms, which included plasma bags for transfusions and medicine manufacturing, had been moved to other sites.
asserted
which → store → sites
It added that France’s national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) and the health ministry had been alerted, and monitoring of all its equipment had been reinforced.
asserted
monitoring → add → equipment
The Aporia
