The French Government has accused Russia’s Federal Security Service of targeting several French organizations over a long period of time. As per the French authorities, the Russian agency has been running clandestine operations for over twenty years. The latter while maintaining a low profile has been exfiltrating vital data from governments, tech organizations, military as well as legal entities. The mode of attacks are multiple including sending phishing emails, employing infected websites as well as targeting internet facing infrastructure. The Russian entity has employed spear phishing as well as watering hole attacks to meet its objectives.

How the Attack was Conducted

Prime targets include internet facing network devices as well as routers. Vulnerabilities such as weak SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) credentials have been exploited to obtain access. Once access is established to a single device, the cyber group is able to expand its presence to the whole organizational network. Then it waits quietly exfiltrating confidential information or waiting for an opportune time to strike.

Long Term and Clandestine Operation

As per the French authorities the operation has been going on as far back as 2004. It is believed that the Russian group was responsible for the December 2025 attack on the Polish energy grid. Recommended precautionary measures including turning off legacy SNMP versions and switching to SNMPv3. Other steps advised were for every member to use strong, complex as well unique passwords. Finally, to prevent malware to spread across the network, limit what company users can install or access on corporate computers and/or devices.

Prime Motive

For your information, Russian hackers have leveraged SharePoint flaw to access several French user accounts. Note that the prime motive was not financial gains. Rather, it was to gather official communications and sensitive data such as belonging to the military authorities.

FAQs

1. What did France disclose about the major hacking group?

France revealed the identity of a major hacking group that it believes has been responsible for multiple cyberattacks targeting government agencies, businesses, and critical infrastructure. The announcement is part of France’s effort to increase transparency and strengthen international cybersecurity cooperation.

2. Why is identifying a hacking group important?

Identifying a hacking group helps governments and organizations understand who may be behind cyberattacks. It also enables countries to coordinate defensive measures, impose sanctions if necessary, and warn potential targets about the group’s tactics.

3. What types of cyberattacks has the hacking group allegedly carried out?

The group has been linked to activities such as phishing campaigns, malware deployment, ransomware attacks, espionage, credential theft, and attempts to compromise sensitive government and corporate networks.

4. How can organizations protect themselves from similar hacking groups?

Organizations can reduce their risk by regularly updating software, enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA), training employees to recognize phishing emails, monitoring networks for suspicious activity, maintaining secure backups, and deploying reliable cybersecurity solutions.

5. Does France’s disclosure mean the hacking threat has been eliminated?

No. Publicly identifying a hacking group does not stop cyber threats. Many cybercriminal groups continue to evolve their tactics or operate under different names. Organizations and individuals should remain vigilant and continue following cybersecurity best practices to protect their systems and data.

SOURCES:-

https://cybersecuritynews.com/turla-hackers-exploit-sharepoint-flaw/

https://www.mallory.ai/stories/019f5abb-5619-7aae-accc-87ddc094fc21

https://ground.news/article/targeting-and-compromise-of-french-entities-using-the-turla-intrusion-set-13-july-2026_b58027

https://gbhackers.com/russian-fsb-linked-turla-hackers/

https://stonefly.com/podcast/turla-ransomware-a-closer-look-at-the-russian-cyber-espionage-group/