France investigates cyberattack exposing 700,000 public finance accounts

French public finances are grappling with a significant data breach, as the Paris public prosecutor's office launches an investigation into a cyberattack that exposed nearly 700,000 user accounts.

The sophisticated attack, described as more advanced than previous incidents, allowed for the fraudulent extraction of sensitive taxpayer and company data. The investigation has been handed over to the Office of Anti-Cybercriminality (Ofac), focusing on data theft and participation in a criminal conspiracy.

According to Amélie Verdier, Director-General of Public Finance, the compromised data for individuals includes names, family quotients, tax reference income, and withholding tax rates. While access to secure online accounts was not breached, affected users will be contacted next week to warn them about potential identity theft risks. For businesses, less sensitive data like Siren numbers and company addresses were stolen.

This latest large-scale cyberattack on the tax administration system follows a series of recent security incidents affecting other French government agencies, including ANTS and Insee. The ongoing breaches are likely to reignite public debate on the security of the state's information systems.