Agence France-Presse (AFP), one of the world's leading news agencies, detected a cyberattack on its IT systems last Friday, impacting part of its service delivery to clients. As of now, details about the perpetrators and motives behind the attack remain unclear, and no ransomware groups have claimed responsibility for the breach.
AFP's technical teams, in conjunction with the French National Agency for IT Systems Security (ANSSI), are actively investigating and managing the incident. In addition to ANSSI's involvement, relevant French authorities have been notified as part of the ongoing response efforts. Despite the attack, AFP assured that its newsroom operations and global news coverage remain unaffected, continuing to function without interruptions.
AFP is a major global news agency headquartered in Paris, France. With a presence in over 151 countries and a network of 2,400 journalists worldwide, it stands as one of the largest and most respected wire services in the world. AFP delivers comprehensive coverage of international current affairs, sports, politics, and economics, with millions of clients ranging from media organizations to government entities relying on its timely and credible news content. The agency's role is pivotal in France and across the globe, providing news in six languages and reaching audiences in real-time via its vast network.
Following the detection of the attack, AFP initiated an immediate response, deploying technical teams to analyze the breach and mitigate potential damage. However, details regarding how the attack was executed, what systems were specifically targeted, or whether sensitive data was compromised have not been disclosed publicly.
At this stage, it is also unclear whether the breach is part of a larger campaign or a targeted assault on AFP's systems. Given that AFP's primary business revolves around the rapid dissemination of news and information, the incident poses potential risks to the confidentiality and integrity of its client services.
As of the time of writing, no known ransomware or hacker groups have stepped forward to claim responsibility for the cyberattack on AFP. It is not uncommon for attackers to remain silent for days or weeks following an attack, potentially seeking negotiations or making an assessment of the breach's impact before making any public claims.
We reached out to AFP for additional details about the attack, including potentially affected systems, any security measures being put in place, and whether any client data has been compromised, and we will update this post as soon as we know more.
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