PARIS, France, Nov. 4, 2026 — Hackers got into the control systems of cold-storage rooms holding blood products at three sites used by France's national blood service and raised their temperature and defrost settings to "very high levels," the service said, but alarms let technicians step in before any products were harmed.

The French Blood Establishment, known by its French initials EFS, said the attack happened overnight Monday, The Guardian reported. EFS said there was "no health impact" and "no loss of blood products," and that blood collection and delivery to hospitals hasn't been interrupted, France 24 reported.

What happened

EFS said a "cybersecurity incident" targeting a refrigeration service provider affected the monitoring and control systems at three sites, France 24 reported. The rooms held blood samples and bags of plasma meant for transfusions and for making medicines.

EFS said it wasn't the direct target; the attacks hit cold stores run by its contractors, the Guardian reported. The products in the affected rooms were moved to other sites. EFS told Politico Europe the blood had been "transferred or secured."

French media reported that the refrigeration company Coolworld supplies EFS, Politico reported. Coolworld said the incident "concerns a component supplied by a third-party provider and not directly controlled by Coolworld," and that only a "limited number" of its units were affected.

EFS supplies blood, plasma and platelets to more than 1,900 hospitals in France and supports more than a million patients a year, the Guardian reported.

Part of a wider wave

The attack matches a pattern hitting supermarkets across Europe, where hackers changed defrost settings so coolers heated up, Politico reported. In some stores, refrigerator and freezer temperatures reached as high as 50 C (122 F), causing millions of euros in spoiled food, the Guardian reported.

Retailers in Italy, Germany, Romania and the U.K. were targeted Tuesday, after Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden reported refrigeration problems Monday, according to the Guardian. In an earlier wave in France last month, hackers took control of cooling units in as many as 700 supermarkets.

Dutch retail group Ahold Delhaize said Wednesday that a cyberattack last month affecting its stores in the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States would cut its fourth-quarter sales by up to 250 million euros, or about $281 million, France 24 reported, citing AFP.

Also Wednesday, French cooperative bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa said it had been hit by an attack that "enabled fraudulent transactions to be carried out," but that clients' money wasn't affected, France 24 reported, citing Reuters.

The Guardian reported that something similar may have happened in the U.S. in early August, when fridge malfunctions hit commissaries at at least six military bases. The Pentagon is investigating a suspected hack, the Guardian said.

Who's behind it?

No one has claimed responsibility, and no motive is known, the Guardian reported. France's health ministry said investigations had started but gave no indication of who might be responsible, France 24 reported. The country's national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, is also investigating.

"These are not isolated incidents and of course we have to be collectively resilient and prepared for such cyber incidents," said EU spokesperson Thomas Regnier, who didn't name possible culprits, according to the Guardian. He said EU agencies were holding urgent talks with national authorities on a joint response.

Rafe Pilling, senior director for threat intelligence at the cybersecurity firm Sophos, told the Guardian the most plausible explanations were a "state-based signalling and demonstration of capability" or a lone-wolf hacker. Some officials and experts fear government-backed "hybrid" attacks since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian reported; Western intelligence officials say Moscow is running a sabotage campaign in Europe.

French digital minister Anne Le Hénanff told the French Senate on Wednesday that the attacks "have directly targeted our economy and our supply chain," Politico reported. "I would even go so far as to say that, beyond that, their objective may potentially be to undermine the unity of our country and to create anxiety among the population," she said.

Why fridges are a target

More commercial refrigeration systems can be monitored and controlled over the internet, the Guardian reported. If that software isn't patched when new weaknesses are found, it can leave the system open to hackers.

Health Minister Stéphanie Rist's office said the sites' monitoring and alarm systems kept the blood supply safe, France 24 reported. EFS said it has stepped up monitoring of all its equipment, the Guardian reported.

None of the reports linked the attacks to blood services outside France. Investigators in France and across the EU are still working to find out who's responsible.

Sources: The Guardian; France 24 (with AFP, AP and Reuters); Politico Europe.

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