French Taxpayers’ Data Breach Confirmed by Finance Ministry After Cyberattack
Details of the French Tax Agency Cyberattack
Overview of the Incident
PARIS, Aug 14 (Reuters) - French taxpayers' data, both individuals and professionals, were stolen in a cyberattack, the French Finance Ministry said late on Thursday.
Attack Method and Timeline
• A "malicious actor" claimed on Wednesday he broke into the tax agency, General Direction of Public Finances, in late June, the ministry said in a statement.
Confirmation and Scope of the Breach
• Investigations confirmed the cyberattack, which led to the consulting and extraction of taxpayers' data, the statement said.
Ongoing Investigations
• Further probes are ongoing to determine which specific data and the exact number of taxpayers affected, the ministry said, adding further findings will be disclosed.
Notification to Affected Users
• "Users concerned will receive individual information specifying the data that may have been consulted or extracted and, where applicable, the precautionary measures to be adopted," the statement said.
Scale of the Data Breach
• Data of close to 700,000 taxpayers were stolen, FrenchBreaches, a platform tracking cyberattacks in the country, reported, saying it got the information from the alleged hackers.
Official Response
• Ministry spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the FrenchBreaches data.
Reporting and Editorial Information
(Reporting by Inti Landauro;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
