France’s finance ministry has confirmed that a cyberattack on the country’s tax authority resulted in the theft of personal information belonging to approximately 678,000 users, including both private individuals and business owners. The breach represents one of the largest data security incidents to affect French government systems in recent years.

Authorities are still investigating the full scope of the attack and determining exactly which categories of data were compromised during the breach of the tax administration’s computer systems. The finance ministry has not yet disclosed the specific nature of the information accessed, though typical tax records contain sensitive personal and financial details.

The incident highlights growing concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities within European government institutions. French officials have launched an investigation into how the attackers penetrated the tax authority’s defences and are working to notify affected citizens of the breach.

This cyberattack comes amid increasing global incidents targeting government databases and public services. The French tax authority, like many tax administrations across Europe, holds vast amounts of personal data including names, addresses, financial information and identification numbers, making it an attractive target for cybercriminals.

Source: Maariv — Original article in Hebrew.