Paris G20 files in cyber attack

07/03/11 18:06 CET

europe

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The French finance ministry has confirmed it came under a cyber attack in December. The target was information related to its presidency of the G20 group of nations.

It is believed more than 150 computers were affected. A report in Paris Match magazine claimed the documents related to the G20 and international economic affairs. French budget minister Francois Baroin said they did have leads and has launched an investigation.

Baroin explained: “What is important is to find out the source and the mode of this attack by the hackers which probably came from outside and that we put in place a system of protection that is strong enough.”

The scale of the attack are said to have shocked officials. One unnamed source has been quoted as saying some of the information had been redirected towards Chinese websites, though added that was not necessarily significant.

An official complaint has been filed with French courts, and the matter has been taken up by the security services who are reported to have taken immediate steps to stop the attacks when they were detected.

More about: France, Internet, Law

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