A recent cyberattack affecting refrigeration systems in France has raised an important question for anyone responsible for temperature controlled storage: Does your refrigerator really need to be connected to the internet?
Hundreds of supermarkets were reportedly affected after attackers gained control of connected refrigeration systems and manipulated their operation, causing significant food spoilage and disruption.
Serious enough when the contents are food, but imagine if those refrigerators contained vaccines, medicines, blood products or temperature sensitive laboratory materials.
For healthcare professionals, it’s a timely reminder that connectivity should have a purpose, and that more connectivity isn’t always necessary.
Access to refrigeration data can be extremely valuable. Being able to review temperature history, identified recorded events and access performance information can help healthcare professionals monitor stock, investigate temperature excursions and support compliance.
Remote connectivity can also offer valuable benefits, particularly for organisations managing refrigeration equipment across multiple sites.
But accessing useful temperature data doesn’t always require a medical refrigerator to be connected to Wi-Fi or the internet. Where local access meets operational needs, a different approach to connectivity is worth considering.
Labcold's latest generation of Labcold IntelliCold® Pharmacy refrigerators uses Bluetooth connectivity.
Through the Labcold Connect app, authorised users can access information recorded by the refrigerator, including temperature history, graphs and event data, using a compatible Android device within Bluetooth range. Crucially, the refrigerator doesn’t need a Wi-Fi or internet connection to provide this functionality.
The refrigerator continues to control and monitor its temperature independently of the app connection, while Bluetooth provides convenient local access to the information it records. It’s a simple principle: Useful connectivity when you need it, no internet connection required.
Medical refrigeration is about more than keeping products cold. A temperature excursion could compromise thousands, or, even tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of medicines or vaccines. In blood storage, laboratories and other clinical environments, the implications can be even greater.
Cybersecurity therefore deserves to be considered alongside temperature performance, reliability, alarms, data logging and compliance when specifying refrigeration equipment.
The recent events in France demonstrate that cybersecurity is not simply an IT issue. When refrigeration controls are accessed and manipulated remotely, the consequences can extend beyond digital systems, potentially affecting the products they are designed to protect.
For healthcare organisations, the right approach depends on operational needs. Remote monitoring across multiple sites may benefit from network connected solutions, while local access may be sufficient for other applications.
Bluetooth does not eliminate every potential security risk, just as an internet connection does not automatically make a refrigerator unsafe. The important consideration is understanding how equipment connects, how its data is accessed and what level of connectivity the application actually requires.
Digital technology can make medical refrigeration smarter, easier to manage and provide greater visibility of performance. But smart doesn’t automatically have to mean connected to the internet.
With the latest Labcold IntelliCold® Pharmacy refrigerators, we’ve combined intelligent refrigeration control and event based data logging with convenient Bluetooth access to recorded performance information, without requiring the refrigerator itself to connect to Wi-Fi.
For pharmacies and healthcare professionals who need convenient local access to temperature data, it’s a practical approach to everyday temperature monitoring.
Labcold IntelliCold® Pharmacy refrigerators. Smart refrigeration. Useful data. No Wi-Fi connection required. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
Contact our expert team to discuss the best solutions for your requirements or for any product support requirements.
