Cyber attack threatens French blood banks

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

The attack, which affected three 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.

Trump's reaction to election defeat - latest

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 defrost thresholds were raised to very high levels", adding that "no health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost".

EFS said Monday's attack was not against itself, but on one of its providers.

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."

The products stored were bags of plasma intended for transfusions and plasma used to manufacture medicines, and were either transferred or secured, the EFS said in a statement.

More from Sky News:
Brand trial jury discuss verdict
Fraud spotting to be taught in schools
Andrew ordered to testify at businessman's trial

It comes the day after the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned AI is "helping to industrialise cyber attacks" and is "highly likely" to be used in attacks on Britain's critical national infrastructure by 2028.

The NCSC, part of GCHQ, also said that China represents the "most sophisticated and sustained cyber challenge facing the UK" - and is likely to use AI to achieve its geopolitical goals in the same timeframe.

On Monday, cyber attacks were reported on fridges and freezers in supermarkets in several European countries including Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia - causing temperatures to increase and food to spoil.

Ireland's ‌third-largest supermarket chain, ​SuperValu, said its refrigeration systems ⁠in ⁠13 of ‌its 223 stores ‌had been affected, forcing the company to remove chilled ​and ​frozen products ⁠from ⁠sale, it said.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

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