Cyber Incident Victim: Centre dIdentification des Materiels de la Defense
Date:
Feb 2016
Location:
France
Summary
Anonymous hackers breached a French Defense Ministry portal, leaking its database containing sensitive information on military suppliers, FTP credentials, website accounts, and PHP sessions, while also gaining access to the administrative panel. The attack targeted the Centre d'Identification des Materiels de la Defense to protest the country's international arms trade, highlighting France's status as a leading arms exporter and its sales to repressive regimes. The compromised website was subsequently taken offline for maintenance following the incident.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On February 22, 2016, the hacktivist collective Anonymous breached the website of the Centre d'Identification des Materiaux de la Defense (CIMD), a portal managed by France's Ministry of Defense. The attackers leaked the site's database, which contained information on military suppliers and partners, FTP client usernames, website account credentials, and PHP session data. Some server usernames included cleartext passwords, though most leaked data was assessed as non-sensitive, with potential uncertainties in interpreting French-language table headers. Anonymous also obtained access to the site's administrative panel, evidenced by published screenshots. The compromised CMS platform appeared outdated or possibly custom-built, potentially contributing to vulnerabilities exploited in the attack. Within hours of Anonymous publicly claiming responsibility, the CIMD portal was taken offline, replaced by a maintenance notification stating temporary unavailability.
The attack was explicitly framed by Anonymous as a protest against France's international arms trade operations. Hackers accompanied the data leak with references to press articles highlighting France's status as the world's second-largest arms exporter, its weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, and its procurement of surveillance tools from Italian firm Hacking Team. Specific links included a 2012 Amnesty International report on global arms trafficking and a 2015 France 24 article detailing France's arms sales policies. No direct operational disruption to military functions was reported, as the CIMD appeared to be a secondary portal rather than a core defense system. The Ministry of Defense did not issue public statements beyond the maintenance notice, with no verified details regarding forensic investigations or long-term remediation measures disclosed in available sources.