In France, data from more than 678,000 accounts was stolen from tax systems
The French General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP) reported two cyberattacks on its computer systems, during which financial data from hundreds of thousands of individuals and companies was stolen. As a result of the first attack in June, the attackers obtained information from more than 678,000 personal and professional accounts.
The stolen information included names, reference income data, and tax rates. The second attack in July targeted data from 200,000 land registry accounts, according to France 24.
DGFiP Director Amélie Verdier also stated that another data breach was discovered on Monday, the scale of which is currently being assessed. The hacker duo ZeroBytes claimed responsibility for the data theft on a darknet forum. The group stated that it had access to the VPN used by tax officials.
In comments to AFP, ZeroBytes representatives said they had no “particular motivation,” but later added, “money, I guess.” They also claimed to have already sold the stolen information to “two people” for “thousands of euros.”
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The hackers claim to have data on 250,000 land registry accounts, covering approximately 2 million land and property owners in France. In addition, the group reported that it had allegedly obtained information on millions of students and tens of thousands of teachers, some of which dates back as far as 20 years.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has instructed the National Cybersecurity Agency to create a new cyber unit to counter the attacks. Budget Minister David Amiel announced that his ministry will use artificial intelligence tools to identify vulnerabilities in government agencies. According to him, the government plans to work exclusively with so-called “sovereign” AI providers, specifically the French company Mistral, while excluding the American company OpenAI.
In April, a cyberattack also targeted the French agency responsible for issuing identity documents, ANTS: the data of nearly 12 million individuals and professionals was compromised at that time. In February, the French Ministry of Finance reported the theft of data from 1.2 million bank accounts, and a few days later, hackers stole medical information from approximately 15 million people.
