Hackers carried out a cyberattack against France’s Interior Ministry over several days, Laurent Nuñez confirmed publicly.
The attackers focused on professional email accounts used inside the Place Beauvau headquarters.
That ministry employs nearly 300,000 people across the country.
Nuñez revealed the incident on Wednesday after security teams confirmed the breach.
The Interior Ministry detected the intrusion days before the public announcement.
Investigators determined that hackers accessed internal messaging systems.
That access later exposed sensitive police information stored on protected networks.
Nuñez discussed the incident during a radio interview with the Franceinfo outlet.
He said authorities immediately opened a judicial investigation.
Investigators aim to identify those responsible as quickly as possible.
Stolen Credentials Opened the Door to Sensitive Files
Attackers entered the system by compromising several professional email inboxes.
They recovered login credentials that granted access to restricted platforms.
Those credentials allowed movement across multiple internal systems.
Nuñez said the hackers viewed several highly sensitive police files.
These files included the Criminal Records Processing System, known as the TAJ.
They also accessed the Wanted Persons File, commonly referred to as the FPR.
Authorities still cannot measure the full scale of the damage.
Nuñez said hackers may have removed several dozen files.
Investigators continue to analyze system logs and data transfers.
The minister said he cannot confirm whether investigations suffered harm.
He stressed that the breach did not put lives at risk.
Officials received no ransom demand from the attackers.
Human Error, False Claims, and the Ongoing Inquiry
Nuñez attributed the intrusion to lapses in basic security discipline.
He said the ministry regularly reminds staff about cybersecurity rules.
Even a few ignored precautions can enable serious breaches, he explained.
The attack continued for several days without immediate detection.
Its primary focus remained the ministry’s internal email infrastructure.
Last week, BFMTV reported suspicious activity affecting those email servers.
Soon after, a hacker group claimed access to data on over 16 million people.
The group provided no proof to support that claim.
Nuñez dismissed the allegation as false.
The ministry reported the incident to the CNIL, as required by law.
Nuñez also ordered an internal administrative review.
France’s Anti-Cybercrime Office now leads the criminal investigation.
