“The digital workspaces (ENT) of around fifteen establishments in the Lille academy were hacked overnight Friday-Saturday” announces the Prefecture of the Department of the North. As a result, “the ENT messaging feature has been disabled to limit the transmission of threatening messages and will remain so until further notice.”
The northern prefecture states that on Monday, March 25, 2024, “facilities will be open and accepting students under heightened security conditions.”
Last week, threats of attacks as well as an extremely violent terrorist video were sent to students, staff and families following the hacking of the digital workplace in the Ile-de-France region. According to the Ministry of National Education, these threats were also broadcast on the Pronote website.
The traces of a phishing campaign
An ENT security audit was mentioned by Gabriel Attal last Wednesday. Some media specify that the origin of these attacks is a phishing campaign initiated against students in these institutions.
The use of ENT to spread threat messages is not the first. In January 2023, a demining operation took place at Baggio High School in Lille following a threatening message from a person.
Digital workspaces deployed by universities, high schools and colleges make it possible to deliver some of the course content and homework to students.
These attack threats come after a wave of fake bomb threats that affected several hundred French schools last fall. They have multiplied since the jihadist attack that claimed the life of teacher Dominique Bernard in Arras on October 13, 2023.
The “emergency attack” level of the Vigipirate plan triggered last night
These repeated computer attacks against the ENT take place in a tense security context in France.
At the end of the Security Council, chaired by Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, March 24 and dedicated to “the attack in Moscow and its consequences”, the government announced that a warning of an “extraordinary attack” had been issued in France. This is the highest level of the Vigipirate plan.
Friday night’s attack at a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow left at least 137 dead. Claimed by EI-K as “Islamic State in Khorasan”.
An “urgent attack” warning in particular “ensures an extraordinary mobilization of resources, but also disseminates information likely to protect citizens in a crisis situation,” such as posters or audio announcements in public places. Restrictive measures such as searches at building entrances may also be strengthened.