France Televisions Suffers Data Breach

Hackers took advantage of weak protections on France Televisions’ computers Tuesday, stealing more than 100,000 contacts.

Personal data, including names, postal and email addresses and telephone numbers were compromised, the French public national television broadcaster said in a statement. However, France Televisions was adamant that no passwords or bank details were stolen.

The attack comes just a week after a hack forced Paris-based network TV5Monde off the air and the internet for 18 hours. A group of self-described Islamic State militants waging “cyberjihad” took credit for that attack.

But the attack on France Televisions is believed to be criminal in nature; the thieves are expected to sell the stolen data.

Stephane Van Bosterhaudt, technical director for France Televisions, told the Agence France-Presse that the security measures the broadcaster had put in place were insufficient. He noted that the attack appeared to come from a black hat hacker group called Linker Squad, which is known for taking advantage of its victims’ vulnerabilities.

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