2025 will remain a pivotal year in the history of French and European cybersecurity.

A year that many experts are already describing, without exaggeration, as a dark year . Never before has so much personal data circulated out of control, never has the attack surface been so vast, never has the boundary between digital life and real life been so brutally crossed.

Over the months, the alerts piled up. At first, they were discreet, almost technical, relayed by a few terse press releases. Then they became increasingly frequent, until they grew into a constant background noise. A hospital affected here, a government office there, a major corporation tomorrow. By the end of the year, the conclusion was undeniable: more than 600 million personal data records had been compromised , scraped, resold, recycled, and sometimes exploited for criminal purposes.

When the Ministry of the Interior , La Poste , SFR , Air France , Louis Vuitton , or Carrefour appear in data breach revelations, these are no longer isolated incidents. An entire ecosystem is reeling. Public entities, private groups, essential service providers, digital platforms: no one has been truly spared.

Behind these well-known names lies a less visible but far more worrying reality. Each data breach is not just a computer glitch or a line in a compliance report. It exposes identities , reveals lifestyles , sometimes medical data , bank details , browsing history , and family or professional information . These elements, taken individually, may seem innocuous, but when combined, they become a formidable weapon in the hands of cybercriminals.

Data leaks of the year 2025:

Ministry of the Interior,

HelloWork,

The Post Office,

Around 20 French Sports Federations,

Mondial Relay,

Colis Privé,

Chronopost,

Ministry of Sports,

SFR,

Euromatik,

Cuisinella,

Médecin Direct,

Leroy Merlin,

France Travail,

AG2R La Mondiale,

+1000 Town Halls,

Murfy,

Michelin,

Resana,

Pajemploi,

Eurofiber,

Weda,

France Travail,

French Shooting Federation,

+8 Regional Health Agencies,

Mango,

Auchan,

Air France,

Bouygues Telecom,

Louis Vuitton,

Sorbonne University

National Centre for Territorial Public Service,

National Union of School Sport,

Private hospital of the Loire,

Disneyland,

Cartier,

Autosur,

Dior,

Cerballiance,

Carrefour Mobile,

Easy Cash,

Indigo,

Afflelou,

Hertz,

Harvest,

MAIF & BPCE,

Intersport,

An industrialization of data theft

What is striking when analyzing 2025 is not just the volume of leaks, but their systemic nature .

The data is collected, sorted, enriched, resold, and then exploited in well-established criminal value chains.

Leaked databases fuel increasingly sophisticated phishing campaigns. The information obtained allows for personalized attacks, tailoring the tone, vocabulary, and visual identity. Fraudulent emails are no longer just vague; they are virtually indistinguishable from official messages. The logo is compliant, the brand guidelines are respected, and there are precise references to services you actually use. Trust is attacked at its core.

And that's where the danger becomes massive. Because phishing in 2026 will not be the same as yesterday's .

How can we protect ourselves from it?

Email spam filters are now relatively effective. A large proportion of fraudulent emails are automatically detected and redirected to the spam folder. The basic rule is therefore simple and should become second nature: never click on a link from an email classified as spam , unless you know the source perfectly and are absolutely certain of its legitimacy.

The problem is that some phishing emails are now much better designed, better structured, and more credible . They manage to bypass filters and arrive directly in the main inbox. Very often, they take the form of an official contact, informational, or notification email, with a carefully crafted opening line, personal touches, and a design that almost perfectly mimics that of a legitimate service.

These messages almost always rely on the same mechanisms.

First, the hook . It can evoke a reward, a pending gain, a refund, or conversely, a worrying warning indicating that urgent action is needed. The message aims to provoke a quick, emotional reaction, leaving no time for reflection.

Next, the tone . It is very often alarmist, urgent, sometimes even threatening. It might be about a blocked account, a pending package, suspended access, or an offer valid for a very limited time. The goal is to create a sense of artificial urgency.

Next comes credibility . The email attempts to reassure and convince by using personal information: your first name, your email address, sometimes even a service you actually use. This is precisely where massive data breaches become so significant: they allow cybercriminals to personalize their attacks.

Finally, there's always a link . It's the central element. Everything is designed to make you click: a clearly visible button, reassuring text, a fake login page that looks just like the real one.

So, how do we distinguish the real from the fake?

First and foremost, a fundamental rule must be understood: reputable websites, large companies, and government agencies never include your personal address or sensitive information in an email , except in very specific cases such as confirming an appointment that you yourself requested. An email that contains too much personal information, that "talks too much about you," should immediately raise suspicion.

Today, most government or administrative communications simply provide information. They then invite you to log in to your personal account yourself , via the official app or website you already know. They never ask you to log in via a direct link in the email.

If in doubt, the rule is simple: don't click . Instead, open your browser and search for the official website of the organization in question yourself using Google or your usual search engine. If the information is genuine, it will also be available in your personal account.

There's also a very effective, often overlooked test. Copy the link from the email, without opening it , and then paste it into a simple text file. You'll then see the link's actual address. In most phishing cases, the deception is immediately obvious: an inconsistent URL, a strange domain name, a random string of letters and numbers. You're dealing with a disposable domain, typical of a phishing attack.

And what if you clicked anyway?

It's important to be clear: there's no shame in it . It happens to everyone. The end of the day, the weekend, fatigue, rushing, a simple lapse in attention. Cybercriminals exploit precisely these moments.

Don't panic. They're not behind every phishing site 24/7 waiting for your input. In many cases, you still have time to react .

The first thing to do is to immediately go to the official website of the service in question and change your password . If this password is used elsewhere—on other accounts or email addresses—then you must change them all, without exception. This password should be considered permanently compromised, as if it were "broken . "

By acting quickly, the credentials obtained by cybercriminals become obsolete and unusable. Stolen data that has already been changed is dead data.

Vigilance is no longer optional. It's a basic skill. And in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks, the best defense remains attention and good human reflexes .

Legal Annex – Legal Framework for Computer Hacking and Data Leaks (France / EU)

Data leaks and acts of computer hacking do not fall into a legal gray area. Under both French and European law, unauthorized access to a computer system, illegal data collection, and data exploitation are criminal offenses , regardless of whether the perpetrator is an individual, an organized group, or a structured entity.

1. Unauthorized access to a computer system

The French Penal Code strictly regulates attacks on automated data processing systems (ADPS).

Article 323-1 of the Penal Code punishes the act of fraudulently accessing or remaining in all or part of a computer system, even without alteration of data . Simple intrusion, without theft or destruction, already constitutes a criminal offense.

The penalties incurred can be up to 2 years imprisonment and a €60,000 fine , and are aggravated when the intrusion results in a modification, deletion or extraction of data.

When the attack targets an administration, a public service or sensitive infrastructure, the sanctions are strengthened.

2. The theft, extraction, and resale of data

Extracting, copying, or misappropriating data from a computer system constitutes a separate offense. When personal data is retrieved, stored, resold, or used without authorization, several criminal charges may apply:

• data theft,

• receiving stolen goods (data obtained through an offense),

• invasion of privacy

• complicity when there is a chain of resale or exploitation.

Reselling databases on forums, encrypted messaging services or clandestine marketplaces constitutes an aggravating circumstance , particularly when it fuels phishing, fraud or identity theft campaigns.

3. Personal Data and GDPR

At the European level, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes on organizations a reinforced security obligation regarding the personal data they process.

When a data breach occurs, the organization in question must:

• notify the competent supervisory authority (in France, the CNIL),

• inform the individuals concerned when the leak presents a high risk to their rights and freedoms.

• implement immediate corrective measures.

Failure to comply with these obligations may result in very heavy administrative penalties, up to 20 million euros or 4% of annual global turnover , whichever is higher.

It is important to remember that the GDPR does not only target large companies . SMEs, associations, local authorities and public institutions are also affected.

4. Responsibility of victims and users

From a legal standpoint, victims of hacking or phishing are not criminally liable simply for clicking on a link or being deceived. Human error does not constitute an offense.

On the other hand, serious and repeated negligence may, in certain professional contexts, give rise to disciplinary or contractual liability, particularly when internal safety rules have not been respected.

For individuals, the priority remains a rapid response: changing passwords, reporting the facts, and filing a complaint if necessary.