Cyberattack on French defense company Naval Group: 1 terabyte of data

It has been reported that Naval Group, one of the largest players in France's defense industry, has been subjected to a cyberattack. A hacker using the alias "Neferpitou" claimed to have stolen 1 terabyte of data from the company, alleging that the stolen data includes highly sensitive information regarding nuclear submarine systems.

Reports in the French press state that the 1 terabyte of data, which is said to belong to the French defense giant, includes software codes for weapons systems, infrastructure manuals, confidential correspondence, and technical documents dating from 2006 to 2024.

The hacker, who demanded that the company contact them, gave the company a 72-hour deadline before initially sharing a 13 GB data packet online. The hacker later released a second 6 GB data packet and documents allegedly containing parts of the STORM weapons system software used in nuclear attack submarines.

"REPUTATION-TARGETED OPERATION"

Naval Group announced that no contact had been made with the attacker and that there was no ransom demand. While the company's internal security teams confirmed that the documents belonged to them, they stated that these were not classified defense materials and that there had been no direct breach of their systems. For this reason, the incident was characterized by the company as a "reputation-targeted operation."

SUSPICION OF RUSSIAN HACKERS BEHIND THE ATTACK

Following the incident, eyes turned to the Russian hacker group NoName05716_16, which has previously carried out attacks on government institutions in Europe and the US. The group had recently claimed to have accessed Naval Group's systems. However, authorities reported that no direct link has been established between this attack and the recent data leaks.

CYBER THREATS ON THE RISE

The French Directorate for Defense Intelligence and Security (DRSD) announced that cyberattacks targeting the defense industry have increased significantly in 2024. While Naval Group continues its investigation in cooperation with the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI, the extent of the risk the leaked data poses to national security remains unknown.

News Source: İHA