French teen suspected in massive state data breach
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into a 15-year-old teenager suspected of hacking the French agency responsible for issuing identity documents and attempting to sell the data of millions of French citizens on the dark web earlier this month, prosecutors announced, Reuters reports.
The teenager, who was detained on April 25 and whose identity has not been disclosed, is believed to be behind the alias “breach3d,” a hacker who offered for sale on specialized forums between 12 and 18 million lines of stolen data, according to prosecutors, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.
Unauthorized access and theft of state-managed data are punishable by up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to €300,000.
Agence nationale des titres sécurisés (ANTS), the agency that stores French citizens’ personal data—such as ID cards, passports, driving licenses, and vehicle registrations—confirmed that the data put up for sale is authentic and told police it detected “unusual activity” in its network on April 13.
ANTS is also responsible for the age-verification application designed to prevent children under 15 from accessing social media, Reuters notes.
On April 22, nine days after the breach, the agency sent emails to millions of French citizens informing them of the cyberattack and advising increased vigilance, warning they could receive unsolicited calls or emails and urging them never to disclose personal information.
The agency added that all necessary measures had been taken, without specifying what those measures were.
The cyberattack has raised concerns in France about the safety of storing all citizens’ data in a centralized database.
Photo: Cour de Cassation
