Personal data leak: French document agency hit by cyberattack

France’s official document authority was hit by a cyberattack last week, the Interior Ministry announced on Monday (April 20).

The Agence nationale des titres sécurisés (ANTS, also known as France Titres) processes documents such as ID cards, passports and residency cards, and driving licences and was impacted by a ‘security incident’ on Wednesday (April 15), the Ministry said.

The breach “involves the disclosure of data from personal and professional accounts on the ants.gouv.fr portal.”

Information such as names, email addresses, and dates of birth were illegally accessed in the incident.

No details over the number of people affected by the breach was released, but ANTS will contact individuals who have been impacted.

“No action is expected from users,” the Interior Ministry added, however those who have had data stolen are at a higher risk of being targeted by scams including phishing attempts.

Extra vigilance is therefore advised for anyone who receives an email from the service confirming their data was compromised.

It is the latest in a string of cyberattacks against professional databases in 2026, including France’s bank account database and doctor database.

Passports, driving licences

“The data disclosure does not concern supplementary data submitted during the various procedures, such as attachments. This personal data does not allow unauthorized access to the portal account,” The Ministry said.

Following the incident, ANTS has improved its security measures, and a criminal report has been filed with the Paris prosecutor.

ANTS is responsible for processing document renewals and requests such as for French ID cards, residency cards, and passports. 

Drivers will also be familiar with the service, as it is used for exchanging and renewing driving licences.

There is no information on the number of people impacted by the leak, nor how far back accounts with compromised information are from.