Rennes University Hospital victim of a cyberattack

The Rennes University Hospital was the victim of a cyberattack this Wednesday evening, reports France Bleu Armorique. On Twitter, the hospital center specifies that this cyberattack has “no impact on the care of [ses] patients”. France Bleu Armorique indicates that a crisis unit has been activated.

This Thursday morning, at 5:30 a.m., the Rennes University Hospital website is still inaccessible. The origin of the cyberattack, just like the possible requests of the hackers, has not yet been indicated.

Explosion of the phenomenon

The phenomenon of cyberattacks against companies is increasing sharply: +95% between 2020 and 2021, according to the director of the expertise center of cybermalveillance.gouv.fr. These ransomware attacks, even five years ago, targeted “many individuals“, but “cybercriminals have realized that individuals are not very profitable. We can just ask him a few hundred euros“, whereas an economic actor, we can ask him “thousands of euros or even millions of euros“, indicated Jean-Jacques Latour, in December 2022. “DVSEs are hit daily by this kind of attack, even if we talk about it much less than when it affects a hospital“, he specified on franceinfo.

At the end of 2022, the André-Mignot hospital of the Versailles hospital center, located in Chesnay-Rocquencourt (Yvelines), had been a victim, for example. Last May, the websites of several town halls – Bry-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne), Juziers (Yvelines) and Ambérieu-en-Bugey (Ain) – were blocked by an attack targeting a host.