France's education ministry hacked: Toulouse schools' systems still down as ZeroBytes claims data theft

According to fuitededonnées.fr, citing La Dépêche du Midi, France's education ministry disclosed a hack of its services on July 31, 2026, and the digital infrastructure of 2,200 schools and 367 public establishments in the Toulouse academy was still affected in October ^[1]. The ZeroBytes group claimed the attack in mid-August, saying it stole twenty years of personal data on tens of thousands of teachers and pupils, notably in Créteil and Versailles, claims that are unverified ^[1]. fuitededonnées.fr advises staff and families to change passwords and enable two-factor authentication, and to be wary of messages appearing to come from the ministry that ask for credentials or personal data ^[1].

Industries mainly affected: Government, Education

1. Change passwords, especially reused ones, and enable 2FA ^[1].
2. Be wary of messages appearing to be from the ministry asking for credentials or personal data ^[1].