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Robert Dougherty and David HollingworthShare this article on:
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French defence shipbuilder Naval Group has moved to quell speculation that it has been the victim of a significant cyber breach and extortion hack.
A member of a popular hacking forum has already claimed responsibility for the alleged breach, sharing details of the attack earlier this week with a 72-hour deadline. The compromised data purportedly contains information about classified files regarding submarines and frigates, network data, confidential messages and technical documents from 2006 to 2024. The hacker claimed to have access to the source code of the combat management system used by French ballistic missile submarines – a claim, if true, could be disastrous for the French defence industry.
The hacker, who goes by the online name Neferpitou, also posted an alleged 13-gigabyte data sample as evidence of the breach.
Naval Group is aware of the claim and has denied any data compromise.
“In a global context marked by international, commercial and informational tensions, with more and more destabilisation attempts, Naval Group has noticed being the target of a reputational attack with the claim of a cyber-malice act,” according to a recent response from the company.
“Considering the facts and the sovereignty issue at stake for Naval Group and the necessity to protect our clients’ data, a complaint has been filed to shed light on these acts.
“In accordance with our cyber security procedures, we immediately launched technical investigations, with the support of a team of cyber security experts and the Naval Group’s CERT, in close collaboration with the French authorities.
“All our teams and resources are currently mobilised to analyse and verify the authenticity, origin and ownership of the data as quickly as possible.
“At this stage, no intrusion into our IT environments has been detected and there has been no impact on our activities.”
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