France's tax authority has confirmed a data breach affecting nearly 680,000 taxpayers. A hacker, known as Zero Bytes, claimed to have stolen data from an internal tool used by the Directorate General of Public Finances. The intrusion, which occurred on June 26th, was detected and stopped by the administration at the time but not publicly disclosed.

The stolen information includes names, dates of birth, addresses, and property details for approximately 390,000 individuals and 285,000 businesses. Passwords and banking details were reportedly not compromised. Zero Bytes alleges they gained VPN access to internal tools, while the official statement describes unauthorized access via identity theft.

Authorities are investigating the incident, with the government's cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, involved. This follows a previous breach between January and February where hackers accessed 1.2 million bank accounts in the FICOBA database. Taxpayers are advised to be cautious of phishing attempts that may use their stolen personal details.