French Government Confirms Massive Data Breach Exposing 1.2 Million Bank Accounts

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France Discloses Massive Bank Account Breach Exposing 1.2 Million Records

The French Ministry of Economy has revealed a significant data breach that exposed sensitive information on approximately 1.2 million bank accounts. The unauthorized access occurred in late January and affected the national bank account registry, FICOBA.

Breach Details

According to officials, a threat actor obtained the login credentials of an authorized individual and used them to access the database containing information on all bank accounts opened in France. The compromised data includes International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs), account holder names, addresses, and tax identifiers in some cases.

Impact and Response

Although the attacker’s access has been terminated, impacted individuals are being notified and warned of potential scams and phishing attempts. Fortunately, the breach did not allow the attacker to conduct banking operations or view account balances.

Expert Analysis

“When individual members of an organization can access large volumes of sensitive data unilaterally, it creates a structural weakness that can lead to widespread data exposure,” said Michael Jepson, penetration testing manager at CybaVerse.

Jepson added that modern security practices recognize that access should be determined strictly by operational need, rather than hierarchy. “Senior figures are frequently primary targets for threat actors, making excessive privilege particularly dangerous,” he noted.

Conclusion

The French government’s disclosure of the breach serves as a reminder of the importance of robust identity defenses and the need for organizations to reassess their access controls to prevent similar incidents.