France accuses Russian intelligence of spate of high-profile cyberattacks

Paris said Russian military intelligence has attacked a dozen French entities since 2021, and also targeted Emmanuel Macron's election campaign in 2017.

France has accused Russia's GRU military intelligence agency of orchestrating cyberattacks targeting French government agencies, companies, and the Paris Olympics.GRU has used the notorious hacking group APT28 — also known as Fancy Bear — to target or compromise a dozen French entities since 2021, according to a report released on Tuesday by France’s cybersecurity agency (ANSSI). Targets included those involved in aerospace, finance, national government ministries and local governments, and a "sports organisation linked to the planning of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games", said ANSSI and France's foreign ministry.The cyberattacks aimed to collect intelligence, notably in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the report. On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on X that France "observes, blocks and fights its adversaries," and posted a video about the "silent war" waged by Russia against France.The French foreign ministry said that APT28's cyberattacks on the country date back to 2015, when the station TV5 Monde was taken offline by a major hack. Paris also said the hacking group had tried to destabilise the French elections in 2017, when thousands of emails and documents linked to the then-candidate and eventual winner, Emmanuel Macron, were leaked and spread alongside disinformation.The ANSSI report also mentioned unspecified attacks on entities in Ukraine, elsewhere in Europe and North America.APT28 and the GRU have also been linked to high-profile global hacks, including in the 2016 US election, where they were accused of leaking Democratic Party emails."These destabilising activities are unacceptable and unworthy of a permanent member of the UN Security Council," the French foreign ministry said in a statement. "Alongside its partners, France is determined to use all the means at its disposal to anticipate, discourage and react to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace."Russia's embassy in Paris and the Kremlin have not commented on the findings. While it is unusual for France to name and shame perpetrators of cyberattacks, Paris is among Ukraine's most vocal backers and is working to ensure that an eventual US-brokered peace deal doesn’t further embolden Russia and threaten Europe’s security.