Patients needing transfusions and medicines made from donated plasma could have been affected by a cyberattack on France’s national blood service, after hackers tried to tamper with refrigeration systems at three sites.

The attempt was detected before any blood products were damaged, and the French Blood Establishment (EFS) says no supplies were lost and no health consequences have been identified. But the incident has exposed a disturbing weakness: equipment responsible for keeping vital medical products safe can be put at risk through a supplier’s computer systems.

Hackers targeted blood storage facilities

The attack took place on Monday, November 2, and targeted refrigeration equipment used at three EFS sites storing plasma. The blood service said temperature and defrosting settings had been changed to extremely high levels. The affected cold rooms normally keep products at around minus 30°C.

French media reported that hackers attempted to raise the temperature to 110°C. The EFS has not confirmed that precise figure, saying only that the settings were pushed to very high levels.

The cold rooms held bags of plasma intended for transfusions, as well as plasma used in the manufacture of medicines. Plasma is the liquid part of blood and contains proteins used in treatments for a range of serious conditions. It must be stored under carefully controlled conditions to remain suitable for medical use.

Alarms stopped the attack before products were damaged

The EFS said its monitoring and alarm systems quickly detected the abnormal settings. Staff were then able to intervene, securing the products or transferring them to other storage facilities before they were compromised.

Blood collection and distribution continued without interruption, according to the service. Hospitals and patients were therefore not left facing a disruption to supplies, and the EFS reported no loss of blood products or samples.

Attack came through refrigeration supplier

The hackers did not directly break into the EFS’s own computer network. The attack affected equipment supplied by Coolworld, a company providing refrigeration services. Coolworld acknowledged a cybersecurity incident involving a limited number of its units.

In a statement, the company said the vulnerability reported in the media related to a component supplied by a third party and was outside its direct control. It said it had responded promptly and taken appropriate measures. Coolworld did not provide further details about the affected customer or the method used by the attackers.

French authorities are investigating how the incident happened and how many refrigeration units may have been exposed. The Health Ministry said technical investigations were continuing, while remote access to the affected refrigerators was disabled.

Could similar attacks put other essential supplies at risk?

The identity of the hackers has not been disclosed, and there is no confirmed link between this incident and recent attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems elsewhere in Europe. Those attacks have caused serious disruption for retailers, with hackers remotely altering the settings of fridges and freezers. Food had to be discarded after temperatures rose, leaving businesses with substantial losses. The targeting of blood storage facilities brings the potential consequences into sharper focus: instead of spoiled groceries, a successful attack could have put medical supplies needed by hospitals at risk.

The incidents also raise questions about the security of equipment connected to the internet for remote monitoring and maintenance. A refrigeration system may appear far removed from the digital networks used to manage patient records, but it still relies on software and remote access. If those systems are compromised, the consequences can move beyond computers and into the physical world.

For now, the EFS says its blood supplies remain safe and its services are operating normally. The alarms worked, staff acted in time and no plasma was lost. Investigators still need to establish how the attackers gained access and whether other equipment could be vulnerable. The attempted attack did not cause a shortage or interrupt treatment, but it showed how quickly a cyber incident can threaten something hospitals cannot do without.

Financial advisors worldwide are concerned about the growing ‘gap’ they observe in their industry between financial planning and asset management. Many say that it’s a struggle for them to align the financial plan of a client with their investment portfolio.

One financial advisor described it as: “two halves of a bridge built from opposite banks that don’t meet in the middle: each side may be well engineered, but without coordination, the client can’t get across.”

Few people in the finance sector deny that this gap exists. They offer several differing reasons to explain it, however. Some blame chaotic markets, others say it’s due to a tug-of-war between clients wanting personalisation and financial firms wanting to grow rapidly.

Peter Dougherty believes this gap has a different cause: the limitations of modern portfolio theory. He thinks the problem begins with the one-dimensional assumption that ‘volatility’ equals ‘risk’ in an investment portfolio. As Dougherty explains: “if over three years two stocks have each earned 7%, portfolio theory tells us that the stock whose annual returns have been 9%, -1%, and 14% is ‘riskier’ than the stock that returned 8%, 6% and 7% over the three-year period. They each earned 7%. Yet, because the standard deviation of the first stock’s returns (6.24) is higher than second’s (.816), which means its returns vary more, buying the first stock is viewed as subjecting the investor to more ‘risk’ than buying the second stock.”

But Dougherty doesn’t believe this ‘volatility’ (variance in price) equals risk. Instead, he says that “not having what you need when you need it is the risk. Volatility is an important characteristic, but it is not risk. To most clients, ‘risk’ is the chance of not reaching their goals, like running out of money in retirement. That chasm between the textbook definition and the client’s definition is the reason financial planning and investing need to be designed together.”

So, four years ago, when Peter Dougherty arrived in Spain as a financial planner, he deliberately went to work for the only Spanish firm that brought financial planning and investments into alignment: Bissan Wealth Management. His aim was to help Americans in Spain with their financial plans and investments. To enhance his abilities, Dougherty earned a master’s degree in Spanish taxation from Universidad Nebrija and became Spain’s only U.S./Spanish dual-accredited financial planner: receiving the European Financial Planner certification in Spain and the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® credential in the U.S.

Now, four years later, he recognises that it’s often wiser for Americans to leave their investments in the U.S. rather than transfer financial assets to Spain. He recently arrived at this ‘aha moment’ — ‘when the penny dropped’ — as he was adjusting a wobbly table at a neighbourhood café. Dougherty placed a napkin under one leg and a different leg started rocking because the floor itself was uneven. That’s the moment it dawned on him that the real problem for Americans in Spain, like a rug that doesn’t fit the room, is that U.S. investment rules are incompatible with the Spanish financial ecosystem.

That’s the reason Dougherty left his job at Bissan and founded USpain Financial Consultancy, where he provides independent financial advice and planning to English-speaking expats in Spain. He still believes that financial planning and investing need to be designed together rather than handled by separate people or processes. But he also realises that Americans in Spain seldom need assistance with Spanish wealth management. That explains why USpain Financial blends cross-border financial planning for expats in Spain that works well even if their investment portfolio is predominantly in the U.S.

To draw a parallel between what his new firm is doing and technology, Dougherty jokes: “How do you know a computer is European? It has a five-week vacation policy, but it has an operating system, installed software, and a processor that are from California.”

Peter Dougherty, CFP®, CRPC®, EFP (Spain), is a financial planner at USpain Financial Consultancy, where he specialises in advising Americans living in the country. He is the author of two financial planning books, one in English: “The Dougherty Code: Secrets of Financial Planning in Spain Revealed” and the other in Spanish: “La Hoja de Ruta Fiscal y Financiera para los españoles en EE.UU.”

For more information: https://www.financial-planning-in-spain.com

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax or investment advice. Tax and investment rules differ for US citizens resident in Spain and depend on individual circumstances. Always seek independent regulated advice before making financial decisions, and check that any adviser is authorised to advise you in your jurisdiction

A decent meal should be the least anyone expects when an elderly parent moves into a care home. Yet Spain has now found it necessary to introduce rules limiting ready meals and fried foods, while demanding more fresh produce and better nutrition. The measures, approved on November 3, will also apply to hospitals, both public and private. For families paying substantial sums for residential care, the question is obvious. Shouldn’t proper food have been part of the service all along?

So what exactly is changing?

The days of relying too heavily on convenience food could be numbered. Under the new rules, hospitals and care homes will be allowed to serve a maximum of three portions of precooked meals a month, while fried food will be limited to twice a week.

For someone living in a care home, where every meal is prepared by someone else, these changes are more than a matter of taste. Food plays an important part in maintaining health, particularly among elderly residents who may already be dealing with medical conditions.

And the government is not simply taking things off the menu. It is also setting out what should replace them.

More fresh food and fewer shortcuts

Fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, pulses and wholegrains will have a greater presence on menus. At least 90 per cent of fruit and 30 per cent of vegetables served must be fresh and seasonal.

For residents receiving all their meals at a care home, the requirements are more specific. Menus must include at least three portions of vegetables and two to three portions of fruit every day, along with fish at least three times a week, alternating between white and oily varieties.

Pulses will also feature more regularly, with at least four weekly portions of dishes containing plant proteins for residents receiving full board.

There is even a requirement for organic food. At least 25 per cent of the total food purchasing budget must eventually go towards organic produce, although centres will be allowed to meet a lower threshold of 10 per cent during the first four years.

These are hardly extravagant demands. They are the sort of nutritional standards many families might reasonably assume were already being followed.

The measures are detailed in the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ official announcement, published following the government’s approval on November 3.

What about residents who need special diets?

A healthy menu is one thing. Making sure it is suitable for the person eating it is another. Many older residents have diabetes, swallowing difficulties, allergies or other conditions that make their dietary needs more complicated. Simply putting more vegetables on a plate is not necessarily the answer.

The new rules require meals to be supervised by professionals with accredited training in nutrition and dietetics. Menus must also be adapted to individual needs, including those arising from health conditions, religious beliefs or ethical preferences. Hospitals and residential centres will introduce nutritional screening to help identify people at risk of malnutrition. That could prove particularly important for vulnerable residents whose nutritional problems might otherwise go unnoticed.

Even hospital vending machines are getting a shake up

Anyone who has spent hours waiting in a hospital knows the problem. You want something to eat, but the vending machine offers little beyond chocolate, crisps and sugary drinks. That is also set to change. Under the new regulations, at least 70 per cent of food and drinks offered in affected vending machines must meet healthier nutritional standards. Those products will also have to occupy the most visible positions.

Sugary drinks and energy drinks will face restrictions, while coffee and other hot drink machines must dispense beverages without added sugar by default. Anyone wanting sugar will still be able to add it, but only up to five grams.

The regulations also require free drinking water fountains in the facilities covered by the decree.

The problem is hardly new. EWN previously reported how unhealthy snacks dominated vending machines in Spanish hospitals, highlighting the limited healthier choices available to patients and visitors.

Will private care homes have to follow the rules?

Yes, and this is an important point for families paying privately for residential care.

The regulations cover both public and private hospitals and residential care facilities, including homes for elderly people and those with additional support needs.

In other words, the standards will not depend on whether a resident is receiving publicly funded care or paying privately.

The decree also covers nursery schools for children up to three, where the restrictions are even tighter. Children in these settings, along with young hospital patients, will be limited to one precooked meal a month.

Certain requirements also extend to publicly owned universities, libraries and museums.

When will the changes happen?

Although the government approved the decree on November 3, that does not mean every hospital and care home must immediately change its menus.

The requirements will need to be implemented according to the timetable established in the final published regulation. Families should therefore not expect every change to appear overnight.

In the meantime, relatives can ask care homes some straightforward questions. Who prepares the menus? Are they reviewed by a qualified nutrition professional? How are special dietary requirements handled? And how much fresh food is actually being served?

The government has set out what healthier meals should look like. Whether these rules deliver meaningful improvements will depend on how they are put into practice.

After all, when someone depends on others for every meal, decent food should never be considered an optional extra.