An 18-year-old man indicted for cyberattacks against the tax authorities and placed in pre-trial detention
Quick Look
- An 18-year-old man, suspected of being a member of the Zerobytes hacker group and of having participated in cyberattacks against the French tax authorities this summer, was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention.
- A second suspect aged under 16 was arrested and then released.
- The attacks affected 678,000 individuals and professionals, with theft of sensitive tax data.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation on July 31 after receiving the first complaints, before the Zerobytes group claimed responsibility for the attack. The 18-year-old man had already been indicted twice in 2023 and 2024 for computer attacks when he was a minor and was under judicial supervision.
An 18-year-old man suspected by the courts of being one of the members of the “Zerobytes” computer hacker group and of having participated in cyberattacks against the tax authorities this summer was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention.
A second suspect, aged under 16, was also arrested and taken into police custody, but then released, said the prosecution. Investigators will now exploit his computer equipment.
678,000 individuals and professionals affected
The tax hack, which occurred at the end of June and the end of July and claimed by the Zerobytes hacker group, led to the theft of data, some of it sensitive, of at least 678,000 individuals and professionals, according to the general directorate of public finances.
Tax data, such as the reference tax income, the family quotient or the withholding tax rate had been stolen. With regard to companies, this involved data such as their company name or their SIREN.
A repeat offender
The Paris prosecutor's office specified that it had opened an investigation upon "receipt of the first complaints", on July 31, and therefore before the attack was claimed, thus made widely public. It was entrusted to the Anti-Cybercrime Office.
The 18-year-old man was arrested on August 18. Seasoned hacker, known to the police, he had already been indicted twice, in two cases of computer attacks committed in 2023 and 2024, while he was still a minor. He has been under judicial supervision ever since. In the tax file, he faces a sentence of ten years' imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 euros for a series of cyber offenses, as well as for criminal conspiracy.
Search for other suspects
Among the other victims of “Zerobytes” cyberattacks are the National Education services (Créteil academy, Agency for French Education Abroad), France Travail, the French Handball Federation, the distributor Intermarché and the telecoms group SFR.
“The investigations are now continuing under the direction of an investigating judge to identify and arrest the other people involved,” specifies the prosecution.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The investigating judge will identify and question other people implicated in the Zerobytes affair
Likely · Within weeks
18-year-old suspect to be tried for cybercrimes and criminal conspiracy linked to tax attack
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What exact data is stolen and how will it be used?
- Will the second released suspect be worried again?
- Are other members of the Zerobytes group still active?
- What will be the long-term impact on victims of cyberattacks?
