France’s national postal service and its banking arm were hit by a suspected cyberattack on Monday, temporarily knocking their online systems offline and disrupting services during the height of the busy holiday season. The outage affected package deliveries, mail services, and online banking functions, frustrating customers trying to send or receive Christmas gifts.
La Poste, the country’s postal service, said a distributed denial of service (DDoS) incident made its online systems inaccessible. While the company assured the public that customer data had not been compromised, the attack nonetheless delayed deliveries and blocked access to many digital services.
At a Paris post office decorated for the holidays, workers had to turn away customers who had lined up to send and pick up packages. Many people expressed frustration as the outage compounded seasonal shipping delays that already strain postal operations this time of year.
La Banque Postale, the postal service’s banking arm, also felt the impact. Customers were unable to use the bank’s mobile application to approve payments or complete other transactions. To work around the outage, the bank temporarily shifted verification and approval processes to text messages.
“We are fully mobilized to resolve the situation quickly,” La Banque Postale said in a message posted on social networks, urging patience as teams worked to restore services.
No group has claimed responsibility for the disruption. The suspected attack comes just a week after another major cyber incident in France targeted the government’s Interior Ministry. In that separate breach, hackers extracted sensitive files, including police records and information on wanted individuals, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. French media reported that a 22‑year‑old suspect was detained in connection with that case, which officials attributed in part to “imprudence” within the ministry.
Also last week, prosecutors said the country’s counterespionage agency was investigating another suspected cyber plot involving software that could have enabled remote control of an international passenger ferry. A Latvian crew member was taken into custody and charged with acting on behalf of an unidentified foreign power.
French officials and security experts have increasingly warned of so‑called “hybrid warfare,” alleging that Russia and other adversaries have engaged in cyberattacks, sabotage, disinformation, and other hostile acts against France and its European allies. Such activities are often difficult to trace quickly and complicate efforts to protect critical infrastructure, especially during peak periods like the holiday season.
