French ministry suffers 'cyber attack'

France's finance ministry was subject to a cyber attack on some 150 computers in December targeting information related to its…

France's finance ministry was subject to a cyber attack on some 150 computers in December targeting information related to its presidency of the Group of 20 nations, a source close to the minister confirmed today.

The source said that security services had taken immediate steps to stop the attacks, which took place shortly after France started its presidency of the group of rich and developing nations in November.

"It was detected towards the end of last year, in December," said the source. "Several computers in (the finance ministry at) Bercy, in particular those working on the G20 - around 150 computers - were subject to an attack."

However, he could not confirm a report on the website of Paris Match  that some of the information had been redirected towards Chinese websites.

Reuters

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter