Hacker Claims Massive Data Breach at French Tax Authority, Exposing Sensitive Financial Records
A hacker operating under the alias ZeroBytes has claimed responsibility for a major cyberattack on France’s Direction générale des Finances publiques (DGFiP), the country’s tax authority. According to posts on a cybercriminal forum on August 12, the attacker breached internal servers and accessed a tool enabling searches on both individuals and businesses. The hack allegedly resulted in the theft of 678,438 records, including highly sensitive data.
Among the compromised information were standard details like names, birthdates, addresses, and contact information. However, the breach also exposed far more critical data, such as family status, number of dependents, taxable income, and withholding tax rates. Of the affected records, 392,867 belonged to individuals, while 285,570 pertained to businesses. Notably, 26,805 individuals had reported incomes of €100,000 or more, with 386 exceeding €1 million and 8 surpassing €10 million.
The hacker stated that the data extraction occurred in June, yet the DGFiP has neither confirmed nor denied the breach. Under French regulations, such incidents must be reported to the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), and affected individuals should be notified if the risk is deemed significant. As of now, the tax authority has not issued an official statement.
The scale and sensitivity of the exposed data particularly financial and tax-related information make this one of the most severe breaches targeting a French public institution in recent years. The incident raises concerns about the security of government-held financial records and the potential for identity theft, fraud, or targeted extortion.
Direction générale des Finances publiques cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/direction-g-n-rale-des-finances-publiques
"id": "DIR1786633007",
"linkid": "direction-g-n-rale-des-finances-publiques",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "6/2026",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization's existence"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '678,438 (392,867 individuals, '
'285,570 businesses)',
'industry': 'Taxation and Public Finance',
'location': 'France',
'name': 'Direction générale des Finances publiques '
'(DGFiP)',
'type': 'Government Agency'}],
'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Yes',
'number_of_records_exposed': '678,438',
'personally_identifiable_information': 'Yes',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['Names',
'Birthdates',
'Addresses',
'Contact information',
'Family status',
'Number of dependents',
'Taxable income',
'Withholding tax rates']},
'date_detected': '2024-06',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-08-12',
'description': 'A hacker operating under the alias *ZeroBytes* has claimed '
'responsibility for a major cyberattack on France’s *Direction '
'générale des Finances publiques* (DGFiP), the country’s tax '
'authority. The attacker breached internal servers and '
'accessed a tool enabling searches on both individuals and '
'businesses, resulting in the theft of 678,438 records '
'containing highly sensitive data, including taxable income, '
'withholding tax rates, and personal identifiers.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Severe',
'data_compromised': '678,438 records',
'identity_theft_risk': 'High',
'legal_liabilities': 'Potential',
'systems_affected': 'Internal servers and tax search tool'},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing',
'references': [{'date_accessed': '2024-08-12',
'source': 'Cybercriminal forum post'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulations_violated': ['French data protection '
'regulations (CNIL)']},
'threat_actor': 'ZeroBytes',
'title': 'Hacker Claims Massive Data Breach at French Tax Authority, Exposing '
'Sensitive Financial Records',
'type': 'Data Breach'}