France Accuses Russian Military Intelligence of Carrying Out Major Cyberattacks

France has identified Russian hacking group APT28 as the force behind sophisticated cyberattacks targeting their 2017 presidential election and 2024 Olympic preparations, showing new resolve to publicly confront foreign digital interference aimed at undermining national security.

Key Insights

France has formally attributed numerous cyberattacks to Russia’s military intelligence unit APT28 (Fancy Bear), marking the first public accusation of this kind by the French government.
The attacks allegedly targeted the 2017 presidential campaign (“Macron-leaks”), a French TV broadcast falsely claiming Islamic State control, and organizations involved in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
France says that despite thousands of stolen campaign documents being released before the 2017 election, the attack failed to significantly impact French voters.
France is strengthening international alliances, including a planned “friendship treaty” with Poland, to combat Russian cyber interference ahead of future elections

Russia’s Digital Assault on French Democracy

The French Foreign Ministry has taken the unprecedented step of publicly naming Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU) and its hacking unit APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, as the perpetrators behind a decade-long campaign of cyberattacks against French interests. These attacks allegedly included one which targeted the 2017 presidential election when thousands of internal campaign emails and documents from Emmanuel Macron’s team were stolen and disseminated online. This attribution reportedly represents the first time France has publicly accused a foreign government of conducting cyberattacks against French entities.

According to Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the Russian operation in 2017 largely failed in its objective. “Thousands of documents were stolen and disseminated in the hope of manipulating voters, but the manoeuvre failed to have any real impact on the electoral process,” a Foreign Ministry video he shared stated. This aligns with the election results, where Macron decisively defeated Marine Le Pen despite the cyber campaign. French officials have determined that APT28 utilizes sophisticated tactics, primarily targeting personal email accounts to retrieve sensitive data and gain system access.

France accuses Russian military intelligence of being behind a series of cyberattacks against the country over the last decadehttps://t.co/Affyp9jsLD

— The Defense Post (@DefensePost) April 30, 2025

Expanded Targeting Beyond Elections

French authorities have documented a significant escalation in Russian cyber activities since 2021. The GRU has allegedly broadened its attacks against France and European Union institutions across multiple sectors, including government agencies, financial institutions, aerospace companies, defense contractors, sports organizations, think tanks, and media outlets. Of particular concern is the alleged targeting of a sports organization involved in preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics, suggesting Russia may be attempting to disrupt or gather intelligence about the upcoming games.

In a demonstration of their own growing cyber capabilities, French security services revealed they had successfully identified the geographical location of one of APT28’s operational units. The timing of this announcement aligns with increasing international tensions over Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and wider concerns about election interference.

Building International Cyber Defenses

President Macron has signaled that France, alongside its Western allies, intends to increase pressure on Russia in the coming weeks. “Over the next eight to ten days,” Macron indicated, France will take further steps to counter Russian aggression across multiple domains. This includes strengthening partnerships with other nations facing similar threats, particularly those in Eastern Europe with firsthand experience dealing with Russian interference campaigns. A planned “friendship treaty” with Poland specifically aims to combat election interference and misinformation campaigns.

“Alongside its partners, France is determined to use all the means at its disposal to anticipate Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace, discourage it and respond to it where necessary,” the Foreign Ministry declared in its official statement.