The Hauts-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) was struck by a cyberattack on Thursday, marking the second such incident in recent weeks. The attack targeted the CCI’s official website, as well as its other sites, including laho.fr and lesaides.fr. The breach was reportedly carried out by a pro-Russian hacking group, which had previously taken responsibility for an attack on January 31 to February 1. Fortunately, there were no reports of any data leaks or losses, and the CCI’s systems resumed operations by the end of the morning.
The cyberattack caused a temporary shutdown between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., significantly disrupting the CCI’s digital services. The prompt restoration of the sites suggested that the damage was minimal, and no long-term service outages occurred. Despite the quick recovery, the CCI took the necessary steps to ensure the issue was properly reported, filing a complaint with the local gendarmerie and officially notifying the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI).
This attack follows a previous incident at the start of the year, which left the CCI’s systems vulnerable to similar disruptions.
The recurring nature of the cyberattacks has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the CCI’s cybersecurity measures, especially given that the same group was implicated in both breaches. As of now, the CCI has not reported any additional findings regarding the scope of the attacks or any data breaches that may have occurred.
The Hauts-de-France CCI’s response includes reinforcing its security protocols and cooperating with authorities to mitigate the risks of further attacks. While no significant data loss has been detected so far, the recurrence of such incidents highlights the growing threats faced by critical infrastructure and public institutions in the digital age. As a precautionary measure, the CCI has committed to staying in contact with relevant agencies to address any potential vulnerabilities and improve its cybersecurity practices moving forward.
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