The personal and professional data of nearly 700,000 French taxpayers has been stolen in a cyberattack targeting France’s tax authority, the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP).
France’s Finance Minister, Roland Lescure said on August 13 that a malicious actor had gained unauthorized access to the DGFiP’s information systems in late June, resulting in the consultation and extraction of taxpayer data. The intrusion was reportedly linked to identity theft.
French cybersecurity monitoring platform FrenchBreaches reported that data belonging to about 700,000 taxpayers had been compromised, although French authorities are still investigating the precise number of affected individuals and the full scope of the stolen information.
The breach affects both individuals and businesses and raises concerns over potential identity theft, targeted phishing and other forms of fraud using genuine taxpayer information.
The DGFiP has introduced additional security restrictions and is working with France’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, as investigations continue. Authorities say affected taxpayers will be contacted individually and informed about what information may have been accessed and what precautionary measures they should take.
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