Cyberattacks of ‘Unprecedented Intensity’ target French government institutions ahead of Paris Olympics

French government institutions are hit by unprecedented number of cyberattacks, causing significant disruption and causing concerns about European Parliament elections

French government institutions have recently been hit by a flood of hacks as the Prime Minister’s office said were of “unprecedented intensity” on Monday. Although the European Parliament elections are coming up soon, these attacks should serve as a stark warning just months before the Olympics in Paris.

Many people in government are very worried about the attacks, even though they haven’t been linked to a specific group. Although France’s support for Kyiv during the current war in Ukraine has led to fears that Russia is behind it, officials have been careful not to blame Russia until they have solid proof.

The office of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal verified that the attack targeted many governmental entities, although specifics about the degree of damage sustained are yet unknown. The assaults, which caused significant disruption due to their scope and complexity, used methods that cybersecurity professionals are acquainted with yet were carried out with unparalleled ferocity.

Quick action was taken to lessen the effects of the assaults, and a crisis cell was set up to efficiently implement defenses. As a consequence, most services’ access to state websites has been reinstated, but with increased caution and continuous surveillance.

Unsettlingly, a number of hacking organizations have claimed credit for the assault on social media sites, most notably Telegram. One such organization claimed to be Anonymous Sudan and claimed to have been involved in distributed denial of service (DDoS) operations against the network infrastructure of the French government.

The reasons for these assaults are still unknown, and there is conjecture on Anonymous Sudan’s connections and goals. Although the organization says it is against alleged anti-Muslim acts, its actions point to a more expansive goal that could coincide with geopolitical objectives.

DDoS assaults, such as the ones carried out by Anonymous Sudan, include flooding a target system with an excessive amount of requests, blocking it from being accessed by authorized users. Experts in cybersecurity stress that while these strategies have the potential to cause disruptions, companies can strengthen their defenses against them.

Source: AFP