**LA POSTE OUTAGE AFTER CYBER ATTACK DISRUPTS DIGITAL BANKING AND ONLINE SERVICES**
France's national postal service, La Poste, has been hit by a major cyber attack, disrupting digital banking and online services for millions of customers. The company confirmed that its information systems were knocked offline due to the incident, rendering several key platforms inaccessible.
"A major network incident is currently disrupting all of our information systems," reads a statement published on La Poste's Facebook page. "Our online services: La Banque Postale online and the mobile app, laposte.fr, Digiposte, La Poste Digital Identity, and the La Poste application are temporarily inaccessible."
La Poste has confirmed that some post office locations have experienced service disruptions, although customers can still conduct banking and postal transactions at service counters. The company emphasized that counter services remain available as teams work to restore normal operations quickly.
The cyber attack appears to be a distributed denial of service (DDoS) incident, with French media reports suggesting that the company was targeted by a massive DDoS attack. La Poste has not shared technical details about the incident, but it has confirmed that customer data is safe and that the disruption only affected online services.
La Poste's website remains down at this time, and customers are advised to check alternative platforms for banking and postal transactions. Banking customers can still make online payments with SMS authentication, withdraw cash, pay by card in stores, and use WERO transfers.
**CYBER ATTACK ON FRANCE'S INTERIOR MINISTRY**
The La Poste outage follows a recent cyber attack on France's Interior Ministry, where a suspected hacker accessed sensitive police data. A 22-year-old was detained in connection with the incident, which occurred between December 11 and 12.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced that threat actors compromised email servers at the Ministry of the Interior, accessing some document files. However, data theft remains unconfirmed, and an investigation is ongoing to determine the origin and scope of the attack.
Nunez stated that there was "no evidence of serious compromises" and that authorities are exploring all scenarios for the cyberattack, including foreign interference, hacktivism, or cybercrime. In response to the security breach, the ministry has tightened security and reinforced access controls across its information systems.
**APTS28 AND CYBERSECURITY IN FRANCE**
The French government attributed a four-year hacking campaign targeting a dozen French entities to the Russia-nexus group APT28 in April. The group targeted or compromised numerous government organizations and other French entities, including ministerial bodies, local governments, DTIB, aerospace, research, think-tanks, and financial entities.
Since 2021, APT28 has been linked to a string of cyberattacks on French targets, with campaigns specifically targeting governmental, diplomatic, and research sectors in 2024. The group has also attacked OT organizations and compromised over 60 entities in Asia and Europe.
In the context of these recent cyberattacks, La Poste's outage serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing cybersecurity threats facing French institutions and citizens. As authorities investigate the origin and scope of the attack on La Poste, it is essential to remain vigilant and prioritize cybersecurity measures to protect against future incidents.