Hackers Possibly Breach Naval Group, Steal Data on French Autonomous Submarines

The French shipbuilding giant Naval Group is investigating a possible leak of classified information related to nuclear submarines.

The Telegraph reported on this.

The company fell victim to a hacker attack. The perpetrators claim to have gained access to confidential data about French submarines and frigates.

They gave Naval Group 72 hours to respond, releasing the first documents which, according to them, contain the source code for submarine weapons systems.

To date, approximately 30 gigabytes of data have been publicly released. However, the hackers claim to hold a significantly larger amount of information that has yet to be disclosed.

Naval Group has stated that it has found no evidence of any breach into its IT systems and described the incident as an “attack on its reputation.”

This event comes amid a surge of cyberattacks targeting government bodies and key strategic enterprises.

Last week, Microsoft acknowledged a critical vulnerability in the SharePoint platform, which hackers believed to be linked to China likely exploited.

Among the targets was the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, responsible for the American nuclear arsenal. Despite this, reports indicate that no confidential files were stolen.

It is quite possible that, as in the case of Naval Group, the hackers are bluffing, and the leak is part of an information operation aimed at undermining trust in the French defense industry.

China has also launched a similar campaign against Rafale fighter jets, including through its embassies.

The aim of this campaign is to persuade countries that have already ordered these fighters, such as Indonesia, to refrain from further purchases and to encourage potential buyers to choose Chinese combat aircraft instead.