NHS blood banks and vaccine reserves are at risk of being targeted by cyber criminals, an MP has warned after hackers hit medical centres in France.
asserted
hackers → target → France
Graeme Downie, the Chair of the Coalition on Secure Technology, has told hospitals to conduct a security sweep of their refrigeration systems as a priority.
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Downie → tell → priority
Following an attack on three sites in France, which saw temperatures 'raised to extremely high levels', Mr Downie warned 'hostile actors' could target Britain next.
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actors → follow → Britain
The Labour MP said: 'This attack on France’s blood service proves that hostile actors can hack into refrigeration systems storing vital blood supplies.
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actors → say → supplies
The Coalition on Secure Technology has warned that NHS fridges holding blood, vaccines and medicines are vulnerable to remote tampering through high-tech components connected to mobile networks.
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fridges → warn → networks
'NHS trusts should audit their connected equipment now, and the government should set security standards for connected medical technology before the NHS suffers an attack like this or worse.'
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NHS → audit → this
His strongly worded warning comes just a day after the French Blood Establishment, or EFS, said: 'temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to extremely high levels' at three of its cold-storage sites for plasma on Monday.
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thresholds → word → Monday
'No health consequences have been identified, and no blood products were lost,' the EFS said.
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EFS → identify → ?
NHS blood banks were warned they could be targeted by hackers after attacks in France
MP
uncertain
they → warn → France
Graeme Downie the head of the Coalition on Secure Technology said Britain could be next
Stocks were not harmed because an alarm system at the site sent out a warning.
The products stored were bags of plasma intended for transfusions and plasma used to manufacture medicines, and were either transferred or secured, the statement said.
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statement → say → medicines
'Monitoring and alarm systems quickly detected the anomalies, allowing staff to take action to ensure that no blood products or samples were compromised,' the EFS added.
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EFS → detect → action
Blood collection and distribution operations remain uninterrupted, ensuring continued services for patients at hospitals and other healthcare, according to the French government agency.
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operations → remain → agency
The blood bank hacks come as supermarket freezers in Sweden, Luxembourg and Belgium were also hacked.
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freezers → come → Sweden
Supermarkets were forced to throw away food which went off because of rising temperatures, in a series of attacks similar to those which took place in France last month.
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which → force → France
Groups such as Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt in Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as Swedish grocers ICA and Coop were targeted.
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Groups → target → Belgium
Furniture-to-meatballs retailer IKEA also saw at least one store affected.
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store → see → meatballs
A notice informing customers that refrigerators are temporarily out of service is displayed on an empty case at the Delhaize Shop & Go in Belgium
Supermarkets in European countries have been targeted by unknown hackers in recent months
Approximately 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, while a smaller number of shops were hit in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.
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number → inform → Sweden
'Everything is destroyed,' Engla Ingwall, a sales manager at an ICA franchise store in Stockholm, told Reuters during a visit to the store on Monday, adding the attack occurred at 2am but was only noticed hours later.
'There has been a cyberattack and all our freezers reached 50 degrees (Celsius),' she added.
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she → destroy → degrees
A spokesman for ICA said the company was aware that a 'limited number of stores were affected by an incident overnight, which impacted their refrigeration and freezer systems'.
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which → say → systems
The latest incident followed an attack in France last month when police said hackers seized control of cooling units at hundreds of supermarkets, causing fires and food losses.
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hackers → follow → fires
Ahold also reported a cyber-security incident to police last month.
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Ahold → report → police
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