French authorities say that fridges used in medical facilities to store blood for donations were impacted by recent cyber-attacks by unknown hackers.

The French Blood Establishment (EFS) said cold rooms storing blood were impacted by hackers, with temperatures set to rise - but staff intervened to protect blood supplies.

"No health impact has been identified and no loss of blood products is to be reported," the EFS said.

Up until now, only supermarkets were known to have been impacted by the hacks.

Meanwhile rumours have been circulating online about Russian hacktivist groups claiming they worked together to hack one of the systems that was used in the attacks which have affected European supermarkets.

Noname057(16) and Z-Pentest Alliance posted that they successfully hacked Danfoss which led to speculation that they were the culprits behind the freezer hacks.

But analysts now question whether or not that meant they were behind the supermarket cyber-attacks.

While Russian groups are not being ruled out, experts say Iranian hacktivists or nation state hackers - or even teenagers pulling pranks - could also be the culprits.

Cyber-security researchers at multiple firms are pouring over evidence gathered from so-called "honeypots" to provide clues as to who is behind the waves of freezer hacks.

Three separate cyber-security firms have deployed fake freezer software traps to monitor how hackers attempt to use them for attacks.

In cyber-security, a "honeypot" is a digital decoy - such as a fake computer network or file - deliberately set up to look like a vulnerable target to lure and trap hackers.

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