FRANCE is establishing a new government-focused cyber incident response capability within ANSSI, dubbed Interministerial Response & Action against Data Breaches (REACTIV). Announced by the agency, REACTIV is intended to strengthen ANSSI’s mandate by allowing the agency to mobilise the necessary skills and resources across ministries at short notice to protect citizens’ data held by government administrations.
It also formalises a centralised technical crisis communications function led by ANSSI to coordinate messaging in the event of attacks that threaten state services.
Two prerogatives accompany REACTIV: the authority for ANSSI to require ministries to take immediate protective measures within tight deadlines, and the establishment of centralised crisis communications when an incident jeopardises state services. While the mechanism aims to accelerate government response, observers question whether sufficient human and financial resources will be available to realise its ambitions.
The move follows a high‑profile cyberattack on France’s tax authority (DGFiP), which exposed data belonging to between 350,000 and 678,000 taxpayers and prompted Prime Ministerial calls for a wide‑ranging audit of ANSSI and the creation of a dedicated response unit. Separately, two suspects, aged 16 and 18, were arrested at the end of August in connection with the DGFIP breach as alleged members of the “ZeroBytes” group.