A cyberattack affected “several French entities” between the end of 2017 and 2020

The National Information Systems Security Agency (Anssi) warned on Monday February 15 on the discovery of a computer intrusion “affecting several French entities” via the French software Centreon. The first compromises identified by ANSSI date from the end of 2017 and continued until 2020. “This campaign mainly affected IT service providers, including web hosting”, indicates the government center for monitoring, alerting and responding to computer attacks.

“Centreon took note of the information published by ANSSI this evening, at the time of the publication of the report, which concerns facts initiated in 2017, or even in 2015”, the Centreon company reacted to AFP on Monday evening. “We make every effort to take the exact measure of the technical information in this publication”, she added. Used by many companies (Airbus, Air France, Bolloré, EDF, Orange and even Total) and by the Ministry of Justice, Centreon software is used to monitor applications and computer networks.

This cyberattack “recalls the methods that have already been used by the Russian intelligence group Sandworm, but that does not guarantee that it is him”, told AFP the specialist in cybersecurity of the consulting firm Wavestone Gérome Billois. The duration of the attack before being discovered suggests attackers “extremely discreet, rather known to be in the logic of theft of data and information”, he added.