French taxpayers’ data stolen in cyberattack, French Finance Ministry says

PARIS – French taxpayers’ data, both individuals and professionals, were stolen in a cyberattack, the French Finance Ministry said late on Aug 13.

A “malicious actor” claimed on Aug 12 that he broke into the tax agency, the General Direction of Public Finances, in late June, the ministry said in a statement.

Investigations confirmed the cyberattack, which led to the consulting and extraction of taxpayers’ data, the statement said.

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.

“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.

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.

Ministry spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the FrenchBreaches data. REUTERS