French Tax Data Breach Affects Nearly 678,000 People, Potentially Heightening Violent Attack Risks Against Crypto Holders

Odaily News: The French Finance Minister has confirmed that hackers breached the systems of the French Public Finance Directorate in late June and stole taxpayer data belonging to individuals and businesses. According to FrenchBreaches, a platform that tracks cyberattacks in France, this incident affects approximately 678,437 people, roughly 1% of France's population, though the exact number is still under investigation and has not been finalised.

The compromised data reportedly includes sensitive information such as names, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, tax identification details, and income data. Among those affected, nearly 27,000 individuals had taxable income of at least €100,000, 386 exceeded €1 million, and another 8 surpassed €10 million.

Reports indicate that the database has been listed for sale on dark web marketplaces for several thousand euros. The attacker, going by the name ZeroBytes, claims to have extracted the records using an internal search tool before being detected and having access cut off.

The incident has raised concerns within the crypto industry, as France has seen a noticeable increase in "wrench attacks" targeting crypto holders in recent years. If high-income individuals' addresses and contact details are exposed, it could provide criminals with a more precise list of targets.