France thwarts 24,000 cyber-attacks against defence targets


January 7, 2017

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said such attacks were doubling every year and this year’s presidential elections could be targeted.

He said it would be “naive” to think France was immune to the type of cyber-campaign that targeted the US election, which has been blamed on Russia.

Mr Le Drian is overseeing an overhaul of France’s cyber-security operations.

Cyber-attacks in France have increased substantially in the last three years and have become a serious threat to the country’s infrastructure, Mr Le Drian said.

In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Mr Le Drian said that France “should not be naive”.

He said that thousands of external attacks had been blocked, including attempts at disrupting France’s drone systems.

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