A new threat has emerged for cryptocurrency owners in France after malicious actors gained access to a large amount of taxpayers' personal information.
A hacker using the pseudonym Zerobytes managed to steal data of 678,438 taxpayers, extracted from the website of the General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFiP). According to local reports, the attacker claims to have breached internal servers using an internal search tool via a VPN.
The perpetrator, who also appears to have been involved in previous attacks on French institutions, had his access cut off and was unable to retrieve all DGFiP taxpayer data. Nevertheless, the file is being sold to interested parties for several thousand euros.
The DGFiP confirmed that the attack occurred on June 12, emphasizing that it "immediately terminated access to all accounts used in the identified incidents," but "the access control measures taken in this case did not detect that these intrusions resulted in data theft, due to the sophistication of the attack."
The agency also clarified that the data necessary to access the website was not compromised and reported implementing new security measures to prevent similar leaks in the future.
"Next week, the DGFiP will directly contact each of the affected individuals and professionals. They will receive individual information by email or post specifying the data that was likely viewed or extracted, and, if necessary, precautionary measures to be taken," the agency concluded.
French cryptocurrency owners expressed their concern on social media, fearing that this new leak could trigger new "key attacks" against them. France has become a hotbed for such crimes after a tax official allegedly sold data on high-status cryptocurrency owners.
Alexander Stachtchenko, head of strategy and communications at Bitstack, called for a moratorium on the collection of personal data by government agencies, stressing that France has endangered taxpayers.
"Demand a moratorium: stop collecting data until the state learns to protect what it holds. Contact your deputies. Share this information. The right to privacy is one of the fundamental freedoms that must be guaranteed," he emphasized.
By April, 88 individuals had been charged in France in 12 cryptocurrency-related kidnapping cases; at that time, 41 attacks had been recorded.
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