A massive DDoS attack has taken several French government websites offline. Reports are attributing the attack to Russian hackers. Affected sites include the Administrative Court of Paris, the French Health Department’s ansm.sante.fr, and the Court of Cassation.
DDoS Attack and Affected Sites
As a result of the attack, anyone attempting to access these sites received warnings that their connections were not secure. No one could get through. French officials are scrambling to get things back online, but there's no telling how long this will take.
Arrest of Pavel Durov
Cybersecurity sources, like Entropia Intel, suggest the attack may be revenge for the arrest of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram. Pavel was detained in France on August 24. Many in the crypto community believe these events are connected and are expressing their dissatisfaction. President Emmanuel Macron quickly stated that Pavel's arrest was not political.
Public Reaction
Crypto enthusiasts and free speech advocates are fired up. Gabor Gurbacs, a former director at VanEck, criticized Macron asking: > **“You arrest the guy then see if he did something wrong? Is this the ‘rule of law’ and ‘freedom of expression’ you’re talking about?”** Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, has also called for Pavel's release, expressing concern: > **“The charge seems to be just being unmoderated and not giving up people’s data. This looks very bad and worrying for the future of software and comms freedom in Europe.”**
French prosecutors have released an update stating that Pavel could be held until August 28. The charges against him are broad and severe, ranging from complicity in running a platform for illegal deals to refusal to provide information for legal wiretaps, and claims involving minors, drug trafficking, fraud, money laundering, and providing unapproved cryptographic services.
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