Cybersecurity

Macron Rushes to Shore Up French Cyber Defenses After Attacks

  • Two French hospitals were recently targeted by hackers
  • Government seeks to increase research, development and jobs

Emmanuel Macron

Photographer: Lisi Niesner/Bloomberg
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President Emmanuel Macron said the importance of cybersecurity was brought into focus by recent cyberattacks on two French hospitals, as he announced plans to bolster France’s defenses and inaugurate a cybersecurity center in Paris to showcase the country’s expertise.

The ransomware attacks on the hospitals -- in Villefranche-sur-Saone in central France and in Dax in the south west -- crippled information systems and put the hospitals in a position of “vulnerability,” Macron said during a press conference on Thursday after speaking with hospital officials.