French authorities investigating hack of national tax authority

The French government has announced it is investigating a cyberattack on the country's national tax authority. According to France's finance ministry, the hack, which occurred between June and July, involved the theft of tax data belonging to approximately 678,000 French individuals and businesses. The attack, allegedly carried out by a "malicious actor," involved the unauthorized access of sensitive information, including tax incomes, family quotients, withholding tax rates, company names, and corporate tax numbers.

Additionally, data on addresses and the size of real estate was reportedly compromised. The ministry stated that public finance areas of private and professional users, as well as passwords of individuals and professionals, were not affected. The DGFIP will soon notify those impacted by the breach via email or post, specifying which data may have been compromised and providing guidance on necessary actions.

The incident has prompted an investigation by France's data protection commissioner, alongside the country's cybersecurity agency and national security governmental department. This incident follows other recent cyberattacks on French public institutions, including breaches of systems related to the national secure documents and statistics agencies, as well as a database containing French citizens' banking details.