France accuses Russia of targeting national interests in decade-long cyberattack campaign

French authorities accused Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, of orchestrating a series of cyberattacks targeting French institutions over the past decade.

The attacks have affected various sectors, including high-profile targets such as the 2024 Paris Olympics organizing committee and President Emmanuel Macron’s initial presidential campaign, Caliber.Az reports citing Russian media.

The French Foreign Ministry revealed that since 2021, the GRU's cyber-operations branch, known for its aggressive tactics, has directed its efforts at no fewer than a dozen French entities across multiple critical sectors, such as defence, finance, and economics. The ministry condemned these actions in a strongly worded statement, denouncing the use of cyberwarfare to undermine national security.

"France condemns in the strongest terms the use by Russia's military intelligence service of the APT28 attack group, at the origin of several cyberattacks on French interests," the ministry said in a statement. 

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, is notorious for its global reach and highly sophisticated hacking techniques.

For the first time, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot officially attributed these cyberattacks to the GRU on social media platform X. He confirmed that the GRU has been using the APT28 group to launch cyberassaults against French targets for years, making it clear that these incidents are not isolated but part of a sustained and deliberate campaign.

APT28's malicious activities have drawn global attention in the past, particularly for its role in the 2016 US presidential election. During that election cycle, the group was accused of meddling in the democratic process by hacking and leaking emails from the Democratic Party, including those of Hillary Clinton's campaign.

The group's cyberattacks are typically designed to compromise personal email accounts, extract sensitive data, and gain unauthorized access to other systems within the targeted network. These methods are part of a broader trend of state-sponsored cyber intrusions that continue to threaten the security and integrity of nations worldwide.

By Vafa Guliyeva