The French government's internal messaging service was compromised in a security breach

A threat actor has since claimed responsibility for the attack on the encrypted Tchap platform.

The French government's in-house messaging service, Tchap, has been breached in a cyber attack. On June 7 it became clear to the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) that the encrypted messaging platform had been compromised, prompting an investigation by the French Digital Affairs Directorate (DINUM), which developed and manages the app.

In a press release published by numerique.gov, the dedicated website for France's digital strategy, it was confirmed that the account behind the attack had been identified and blocked. Exactly what data they were able to extract is still being investigated, but a message was sent to all Tchap users to remind them that the content of public chatrooms is not encrypted.

While DINUM is naturally not making public the origin of the breach, Bleeping Computer reports that a threat actor has claimed responsibility and shared some of the stolen files. As well as hardcoded LDAP credentials, the hacker alleges to have stolen nearly 14GB of documents and files shared by public servants using Tchap, as well as email addresses, meeting links and general organization data.

Tchap is a state-owned messaging service based on the Matrix protocol. It was designed exclusively for the French public sector and features end-to-end encryption on private conversations. The service was launched in 2019, and the recent security breach comes at a time when France is trying to move away from relying on software not developed on home soil.

This year we've seen the country ditch Windows in favor of Linux on its government workstations, and by next year a homegrown alternative will replace Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The EU, of which France is a founding member state, is also reportedly planning to stop using Google as its default in-house search engine, with France-developed Quaint taking its place.