Hackers target French computers in G20 search

HACKERS using Internet addresses in China have infiltrated French government computers in search of information about France’s leadership of the Group of 20 leading economies, the country’s budget minister said.

The head of France’s network security agency said it was the biggest hacker attack against the government.

Budget Minister Francois Baroin says it’s too early to say who was behind the attack in recent weeks and months on Finance Ministry email accounts and servers.

“It was the information about the G-20 that interested the hackers,” Baroin said.

France holds the rotating leadership of the G-20 this year and is hosting a series of meetings aimed at improving relations among the world’s top economies, including the US and China.

Network security agency chief Patrick Pailloux said “sensitive” information had been obtained in the attack, which he said was carried out by “a number of professional, determined and persistent hackers”.

Pailloux said it was not the first time government computers had been attacked, but that “it’s the first time that it has reached such proportions”.

Pailloux said the attack took place last year and the intruders infiltrated about 150 computers, out of 170,000 computers in France’s Finance Ministry.