France blocked 24,000 cyberattacks targeting its military last year, the country’s defense minister says.
In an interview published on January 8, Jean-Yves Le Drian said the cyberthreat has increased substantially in France in the past three years.
He added that presidential elections in April and May could be targeted by cyberattacks, but said France's digital security service had so far detected no "signs of operations aimed at destabilizing the French elections."
The comments come after a U.S. intelligence report released on January 6 concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin "ordered" a campaign of hacking and media manipulation aimed at influencing the U.S. presidential election.
Russia denies involvement in hacking that resulted in Democratic Party e-mails being leaked during the presidential campaign.