France’s Interior Minister confirmed on Friday that the Ministry of the Interior was affected by a cyberattack that compromised its email servers.
The intrusion was detected overnight between Thursday, December 11, and Friday, December 12.
According to officials, the attackers were able to access some document files stored on the affected systems. However, authorities have not yet confirmed whether any sensitive data was stolen during the breach.
Following the discovery of the attack, the ministry moved quickly to tighten security measures. Access controls to internal information systems used by staff have been reinforced, and standard protection procedures have been put in place to limit further risk.
An official investigation has now been launched to identify who was behind the attack and to assess its full impact. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said investigators are considering several possible motives. These include foreign interference, activists attempting to expose weaknesses in government systems, or cybercriminal activity.
“There was indeed a cyberattack. An attacker was able to access several files, so we implemented the usual protection procedures,” Nuñez said in a statement shared with RTL Radio. He added that, at this stage, authorities do not yet know who carried out the attack or why.
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The French Interior Ministry oversees police forces, internal security, and immigration services, which makes it a highly sensitive institution and an attractive target for sophisticated cyber attackers.
