The Interior Minister, Bruno Le Roux, said Thursday that “all candidates” for the presidential election were potentially threatened by cyber attacks, a day after a “mobilization” decreed by President Hollande to these risks .
“The threat is there. It is on the sites of the candidates, I asked them to secure their sites. It was made available to ANSSI (National computer security agency) to help “, said the Minister to CNews.
“Intelligence agencies have mobilized, to watch, to make sure that there will be no disruption to the presidential debate”, he assured.
Le Roux was particularly concerned about the risks related to the online reputation of candidates. “I asked that there is a watch on what is rumor, unfortunately we can not stop it all”, he said.
Cybermenace
Francois Hollande on Wednesday ordered the “mobilization” of “all necessary means of the State” to address the cyber threats facing the presidential elections, while French diplomacy has increased in recent weeks with warnings against the Russian “interference”.
At a hearing before the Committee “defense” of the National Assembly on the 31st January, the head of the ANSSI Guillaume Poupard, had publicly expressed concern about the cyber threat weighing on the presidency.
“It’s really about information warfare, the very serious potential consequences. We seriously believe in the elections that will take place in France for what was perpetrated in the United States may be again in France, by the same actors or others. Now that the idea was given, attackers will compete ideas “, said Mr Poupard.
