After a cyberattack at the beginning of the month, the city of Besançon calls for vigilance for spear phishing attempts.

The city of Besançon informs that a cyberattack took place on September 4th. It targeted the IT infrastructure “ of Grand Besançon Métropole, the city and the Communal Social Action Center of Besançon. ”

According to a press release, the cyberattack was based on malware included in emails. They are propagated within the IT network and work in particular for data exfiltration.

“ The immediate and sustained mobilization of the IT teams made it possible to prevent the information system from being blocked, to curb the internal spread of the virus to gradually eradicate it and to stop data leaks as quickly as possible. “

Besançon nevertheless warns that data such as agent email address books communities have been stolen. They are used for sending trapped emails. It is therefore an alert to vigilance due to spear phishing.

The information system of Grand Besançon Métropole, the City and the CCAS, victim of a major cyber attack? https://t.co/T5Qc7xMgJO

– Besançon (@villedebesancon) September 27, 2020

“ These phishing emails use the names of some agents and refer to past exchanges , which gives them a certain likelihood. They usually contain attachments Word, PDF, or other malicious formats. “

The CNIL and the authorities have been notified. Besançon points out that several communities and administrations in France have been the subject of the same type of cyberattack. It is reminiscent of the return of the Emotet malware.

Earlier this month, the National Information Systems Security Agency (Anssi) published an alert bulletin about an upsurge in Emotet activity in France, with a targeting of companies and administrations.