Cyberattacks targeting refrigeration systems across Europe, including an intrusion that altered temperature controls at three French blood storage facilities, highlight the security risks facing internet-connected operational technology (OT), cybersecurity firm Tenable said.
Meir Asiskovich, Tenable senior director of product management and head of critical infrastructure security, warned that organizations can no longer assume their industrial control systems are safe simply because they operate within supposedly isolated networks.
“Organizations that still believe their operational technology (OT) networks are completely isolated from the outside world (air-gapped) in 2026 should think again. Attackers are moving much faster, making broad visibility into both internal and external attack paths critical,” Asiskovich said.
The warning follows a Nov. 2 cyber incident involving refrigeration equipment at three sites operated by France’s national blood service, the French Blood Establishment (EFS).
Attackers reportedly manipulated temperature and defrost settings in cold-storage facilities used to preserve plasma and biological samples. French newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné reported that the settings were changed from the normal storage temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius to as high as 110 degrees Celsius.
The EFS said its monitoring and alarm systems detected the changes, allowing personnel to secure or transfer the stored products before they were compromised. No blood products were lost, and no health consequences were reported. The attack reached the facilities through a refrigeration equipment supplier rather than directly targeting the blood service.
Asiskovich said the incident illustrates how industrial systems once considered isolated are increasingly exposed through remote maintenance, monitoring and control connections.
“Industrial cybersecurity has traditionally been considered a highly secure, closed-off environment, disconnected from the internet. The prevailing assumption was that this isolation was what kept these systems safe. Recently, however, we’re seeing that assumption shattered almost daily,” he said.
Beyond refrigeration systems
Asiskovich said refrigeration equipment represents only one category of industrial systems vulnerable to unauthorized remote access.
Industrial control systems are increasingly connected to external networks to support remote operations and maintenance. Attackers can exploit weak passwords, unpatched vulnerabilities and exposed connections to manipulate equipment or disrupt operations.
He also warned that artificial intelligence could lower the technical barriers for carrying out attacks against industrial systems.
“And in the age of AI, you no longer need to be an expert to do so,” he said.
The same exposure could affect building air-conditioning systems, heating equipment, medical facilities and scientific installations that store DNA, fertility-related materials and other biological samples.
The European incidents have demonstrated how cyber intrusions can move beyond conventional IT systems and affect physical infrastructure, potentially disrupting essential services and compromising sensitive materials.
The French blood storage incident followed attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems in several European countries, where attackers reportedly manipulated cooling controls and defrost functions, resulting in spoiled food and financial losses. However, investigators have not established that all the incidents were carried out by the same actors.
Tenable said organizations need better visibility into their OT environments and the connections linking internal systems, external suppliers and remote-access services.
Asiskovich is available to discuss emerging OT security threats, the implications of AI-assisted attacks, and how organizations can identify vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure before attackers exploit them.
Full disclosure: All news articles published on the TechSabado website are written by human journalists, unless otherwise specified. Final text editing is also performed by human editors, with artificial intelligence (AI) used only to assist with additional grammar and style guide corrections..
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