France’s national postal and banking services company, La Poste, was knocked offline by a suspected distributed denial-of-service attack on Monday. The company described the event as a major network incident disrupting all of its information systems.
According to the announcement, La Poste’s online mail and banking services, its website, and its mobile app are temporarily unavailable. Customers can still carry out banking and postal transactions in person at physical locations. The banking branch, La Banque Postale, also confirmed the cyberattack, stating it was temporarily preventing customer access to its mobile app and online banking.
While a Russian hacktivist group has claimed responsibility, it is not yet clear who is behind the attack. This incident occurs as the French government deals with a series of recent cybersecurity issues. These include remote control software found planted on a passenger ferry and a data breach at the French Interior Ministry where hackers stole confidential documents, including criminal records. Following that breach, authorities arrested a 22-year-old suspect. It remains unclear if any of these incidents are connected.