Ani Petrosyan
Research expert for cybersecurity and cybercrime
Cybercrime and companies in France - statistics & facts
Cybercrime is a growing security threat for organizations in France. In 2024, the country faced the loss of an estimated 129 billion U.S. dollars in cybercrime – a figure that saw a stable increase throughout the last decade. Meanwhile, the number of cyberattacks in France has grown, as stated a by nearly a quarter of the surveyed organizations in the number of cyberattacks in the past year.
The main reason behind detected cyberattacks in France, according to IT specialists, is to steal customer information. Furthermore, ransomware and extortion ranked as the second-most common motivation for threat actors to target French companies.
Overall, around four in 10 companies in France reported having experienced up to three cyberattacks in the past year.
The ability to quickly deal with the consequences of cyberattacks is a pivotal aspect in cybersecurity. The fact that cyberattacks are difficult to avoid no longer comes as a surprise. Consequently, companies nowadays focus on minimizing the impact and losses due to cyberattacks.
Common types of cyberattacks in France
In 2024, the majority of French companies reported encountering phishing attacks in the past year, following the abundance of ransomware attacks in the year prior. Distributed viruses, such as spyware or malware, were among the most commonly experienced cyber incidents among the firms in the market.Overall, around four in 10 companies in France reported having experienced up to three cyberattacks in the past year.
Data breaches in France
As of September 2024, the biggest case of a data breach in France was registered in February 2021, at Dedalus Biologie. The investigation found that as a result of a data leakage, medical records of nearly 492,000 patients were affected, for which the company was fined 1.5 million euros. The second-most notable case of a data breach involving French companies was the May 2021 incident of the French insurance giant AXA, which suffered a ransomware attack resulting in the leakage. Overall, the number of breached data records in France peaked in the third quarter of 2024, surpassing 17 million. The last such peak in breached records was recorded two years prior, in the third quarter of 2022.Confidence and concern go hand in hand
Clicking on a malicious link or opening an attachment in a phishing e-mail keeps 66 percent of French employees up at night. It is each employee’s nightmare to be the reason threat actors gain access to the companies’ network or data. Moreover, such worries cause stress for at least the third of surveyed IT specialists in France.What happens next?
Most often, cyber threat actors go for confidential data when attacking French companies. Among other common consequences of cyberattacks were denial of service, identity theft, and data exposure. But the consequences are not limited to the above-mentioned outcomes: depending on attack characteristic, companies in France may also be subject to GDPR complaints.The ability to quickly deal with the consequences of cyberattacks is a pivotal aspect in cybersecurity. The fact that cyberattacks are difficult to avoid no longer comes as a surprise. Consequently, companies nowadays focus on minimizing the impact and losses due to cyberattacks.
