Operations at the French municipalities of Montoir-de-Bretagne, Pornichet, Saint-Nazaire, La Chapelle-des-marais, and Donges, have been disrupted by a massive cyberattack earlier this week, which officials noted could take months to be completely resolved, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Threat actors targeted the municipalities' systems on the evening of April 9, compromising email and phone systems, as well as preventing file and workspace access, said Saint-Nazaire Mayor David Samzun, who noted that additional details regarding the intrusion are still subject to further investigation.
"At this stage, the origin of the cyberattack is unknown, as is the duration of the blockage," Samzun said.
Such a development comes months after more than 33 million individuals across France, or nearly 50% of the country's population, were confirmed to have had their data compromised in a cyberattack targeted at French healthcare and insurance services providers in late January.