French Tax Database Breach Exposes Data of 678,000 Users

Overview

• Two intrusions into DGFiP systems at the end of June and the end of July led to the consultation and extraction of identity, fiscal records, exchanged messages with the tax administration and cadastral data for about 678,000 individuals and entities.
• The Parquet de Paris has opened a cyber investigation and assigned the Office anticybercriminalité (OFAC) to probe charges including 'extraction frauduleuse de données' and 'association de malfaiteurs'.
• Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened an interministerial crisis cell and tasked ANSSI with an in‑depth audit while ordering an acceleration of the state IT hardening plan.
• Notifications to affected users began this week, with authorities saying they will specify which fields were exposed and urging vigilance because samples and adverts for the files have appeared on hacking forums.
• A self‑described group calling itself ZeroBytes claims responsibility and says the data were sold, but those claims remain unverified and raise the immediate risk of targeted phishing, identity theft and other frauds.