France fending off large scale cyberattacks, Russia-backed Sudanese hackers claim responsibility

The French government made an announcement on Monday that it is fending off large-scale cyberattacks on its internet services and several government services.

Officials in France have described the scale of these attacks as having “unprecedented intensity.”

Furthermore, the attacks have forced the French government to activate a special crisis centre to restore online services, a report from the Associated Press claims.

According to a statement from Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s office, the attacks started on Sunday night, affecting multiple government ministries. However, specific details regarding the targets were not disclosed.

By Monday afternoon, the impact of the attacks had been mitigated for most services, and access to government websites had been restored.

Anonymous Sudan, a group of hackers believed to have pro-Russia affiliations according to cybersecurity experts, claimed responsibility for the attacks in online posts. However, neither the French prime minister’s office nor the digital safety agency commented on the claim or provided details regarding the extent of the damage caused.

A French official stated that the attacks were denial-of-service attacks, a common cyberattack method aimed at overwhelming a website with data to render it inaccessible.