The Paris prosecutor’s office has officially opened an investigation into a cyberattack that targeted the Établissement français du sang (EFS), the French national blood service.
The intrusion, which occurred on Tuesday, Nov. 3, compromised the remote monitoring systems of industrial refrigeration units housing critical medical supplies.
Authorities have assigned the case to the Office anti-cybercriminalité (Ofac) and the Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure (DGSI). Investigators are currently treating the breach as an “unauthorized access and interference with an automated data processing system.”
While the investigation is in its early stages, the public prosecutor’s office has stated it cannot yet confirm a link to the broader “connected fridge” espionage case, which has previously drawn scrutiny toward Iran—an allegation Tehran has consistently denied. Officials emphasize that while the investigation is ongoing, no definitive attribution has been established.
The cyberattack specifically targeted a third-party refrigeration provider, Coolworld, which manages technical equipment for the EFS. According to reports from Le Canard Enchaîné, the breach was severe enough to manipulate the climate control software, with hackers allegedly programming some units to reach temperatures as high as 110°C, far exceeding the standard -30°C required for blood sample preservation.
Despite the potential for catastrophic loss of biological material, the EFS has maintained that the incident resulted in no public health impact. “No health impact has been identified and no loss of blood products is to be reported,” the agency said in an official communication to AFP.
The EFS confirmed that the breach affected supervision and pilot installations for cold storage across three regional sites. Upon detecting the anomalies, the organization initiated immediate audit and security protocols in coordination with the Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information (Anssi).
Coolworld, the refrigeration contractor, issued a statement clarifying that the incident was limited to a specific software component provided by a third-party vendor. “Only a limited number of Coolworld units were affected by the cybersecurity incident on a remote monitoring software for refrigeration systems,” the company asserted.
As the Ofac and DGSI continue their forensic analysis of the compromised software, the EFS remains under increased monitoring. The agency is currently working with competent state authorities to finalize its own internal investigation into the incident.
For now, the technical systems have been secured, and the EFS continues its standard operations while the legal process moves forward.
