French Blood Banks Targeted in Cyberattack

The French national blood service reported it was the victim of a cyberattack earlier this week. The attack allowed hackers to access blood collection facilities’ control systems and change the temperature of blood storage units.

In several cases, hackers were able to increase temperatures of cold stores past defrosting thresholds. In each instance, alarms were triggered and workers were able to address the situation before blood products were compromised.

This is the latest instance in which a health care facility was targeted by cyberattacks. AABB reminds the community that FDA issued recommendations for cybersecurity resilience in 2024. Additional resources for the blood and biotherapies community are available on AABB’s cybersecurity web page.