France: France's Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP) confirmed Tuesday that a cyberattack affecting millions of pieces of data related to cadastral information and unclaimed estates occurred a few weeks ago, broadcaster BFMTV reported.

According to Anadolu Agency, DGFiP confirmed the cybersecurity incidents involving two new types of data that took place but are only now contained. The first concerned cadastral records, targeting a set of administrative documents and maps that list, describe and identify all real estate properties within a municipality. The second involved unclaimed estates, meaning an inheritance that has not been claimed or accepted by the heirs following a person's death.

The amount of data leaked remained unknown, but the cadastral breach alone reportedly affected 1.8 million accounts. The data theft was uncovered after hackers claimed responsibility on a dark web forum.

The attackers reportedly obtained the login credentials of at least three people, including two public officials and a third person with access to the data, who could be an elected official, according to the Economy Ministry. The portals dedicated to the two services were blocked, as was the public administration intranet, which allows remote access to the work environment.

At a news conference at the Economy Ministry, the DGFiP's director general said an access point had been identified August 17, and immediately shut down. The announcement came after the Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation Saturday into a cyberattack on France's tax administration platform that affected 678,000 individual and business users.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu later chaired an interministerial crisis meeting on the cyberattack, with authorities beginning to individually notify those whose data may have been compromised. He also asked the National Cybersecurity Agency to oversee an audit of the tax authority's information systems. Its conclusions and resulting measures are expected in September.