{"id":629183,"date":"2025-12-13T00:06:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T00:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/629183\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T00:06:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T00:06:26","slug":"france-and-germany-grappling-with-nation-state-hacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/629183\/","title":{"rendered":"France and Germany Grappling With Nation-State Hacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Cyberwarfare \/ Nation-State Attacks<\/a>
\n ,
\n Fraud Management & Cybercrime<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Hackers Target French Interior Ministry, Germany Summons Russian Ambassador<\/p>\n

Akshaya Asokan<\/a> (asokan_akshaya<\/a>) \u2022
\n December 12, 2025 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n

\"France
\n Image: Capitano Footage\/Shutterstock <\/p>\n

The French Ministry of Interior is investigating a suspected nation-state cyberattack that targeted its email server. Additionally, the German government on Friday attributed a 2024 hacking incident on air traffic control systems to Russian nation-state hackers.<\/p>\n

See Also:<\/b> OnDemand | North Korea’s Secret IT Army and How to Combat It<\/a><\/p>\n

French Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez told<\/a> French outlet RTL it’s uncertain whether hackers stole files. Details of the hack are sparse, but the minister said<\/a> the attack could be “foreign interference.”<\/p>\n

The incident comes in the wake of heightened vigilance over nation-state hacks. European governments have increasingly decried Russian use of so-called hybrid tactics, including hacking and sabotage. The Kremlin uses hybrid tactics, such as the April a href=”https:\/\/www.bankinfosecurity.com\/breach-roundup-russian-hackers-attacked-norwegian-dam-a-29229″ target=”_blank”>hacking of a Norwegian dam, in a campaign of events that individually fall below the threshold of armed response but that collectively can add up to low-grade warfare. British foreign intelligence service head Richard Moore in a rare November 2024 speech accused<\/a> Russia of “a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe.”<\/p>\n

A recent report<\/a> by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity said the trading bloc recorded 46 nation-state-backed attacks between July 2024 and July 2025 (see: Russian, Chinese Hacking Buffets Europe<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The German Foreign Ministry on Friday said it summoned the Russian ambassador to answer for repeated Russian hybrid attacks on its soil, reported<\/a> German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle.<\/p>\n

“The goal of these Russian cyber and disinformation attacks is clear: It is to divide society, stir up mistrust, provoke rejection and weaken confidence in democratic institutions,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Martin Giese said.<\/p>\n

The ministry attributed an August 2024 cyberattack against German air traffic control systems to the Russian threat actor often tracked as Fancy Bear, a hacking unit of the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate.<\/p>\n

Earlier, the French government warned France and Europe face the risk of “open warfare” with Russia because of ongoing geopolitical tensions over Europe\u2019s continued assistance to Ukraine after the Russian invasion of 2022 (see: France Says Russia Is Top Threat, Warns of ‘Open Warfare’<\/a>).<\/p>\n