Update: hackers hit refrigeration at three French blood banks as the supermarket attacks spread

This updates our November 2 report on attacks on supermarket refrigeration across Europe. The new development: the same kind of target, cold-storage controls, was hit at three regional facilities of France's national blood service, the French Blood Establishment (EFS), according to Fox Business, citing Reuters.

What officials say

France's Health Ministry said several regional facilities were affected by a cybersecurity incident that hit "certain cold storage room monitoring and control systems." The attack happened overnight between Sunday and Monday. Blood supplies were not affected: an EFS spokesperson told Reuters staff are on duty around the clock, were alerted to the problem and moved the blood to refrigerators that were not connected to the compromised systems.

By Wednesday the ministry said the situation was under control and remote access to the affected systems had been disabled. Officials are still investigating how the attack was carried out, which equipment was involved and when the systems can safely return to service.

What is still unknown

No source we read names a perpetrator or reports a ransom demand. The reports tie the blood-bank incident in time to the supermarket attacks but do not say they are the same group, and we are not drawing that link. As we reported on Monday, Reuters could not establish who was behind the supermarket attacks.

The wider pattern, as reported

• Supermarkets: the Monday attacks hit stores in eight European countries, per the Fox Business account. About 40 Delhaize stores were affected in Belgium and Luxembourg, with incidents also reported in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland, according to the BBC as cited there. Some refrigeration systems went into defrost mode, raising temperatures and spoiling stock.
• France, last month: hackers manipulated cooling at hundreds of supermarkets, including Carrefour, Monoprix, Les Mousquetaires, E. Leclerc and Coopérative U. Some stores reported temperatures of 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
• United States: the Army Criminal Investigation Division's cyber office is working with the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service on refrigeration failures at at least six military commissaries in August. No cause has been announced. A former FBI agent told Fox News Digital that similar attacks could happen in the US; that is her warning, not a finding.

Why this matters to owners with walk-in coolers

The blood banks avoided losses because the alarms worked and staff had unconnected backup fridges. That is the practical lesson for any restaurant, grocer, pharmacy or lab that keeps product cold: a standalone thermometer with its own battery alarm, a written plan for where stock goes if the cooler fails, and a clear answer on who holds remote access to your controllers. Ask your insurance agent in writing whether spoilage from a cyber event is covered, because spoilage coverage depends on the policy wording. Our restaurant playbook covers the operating basics.

Sources: Fox Business, citing Reuters, the French Health Ministry and the BBC; the Chronicle's report of November 2. Details may change as investigations continue.