A highly sensitive data breach has exposed the personal information of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, and the source of the leak is as unexpected as it is ironic: a cyberattack on a French underwear brand.
According to revelations published by satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné on Wednesday, October 7, Lecornu’s phone number is circulating online after hackers targeted Le Slip Français, a popular French underwear company, in 2024. At the time of the breach, Lecornu was serving as Minister of the Armed Forces. The attack compromised the files of approximately 1.5 million customers.
Widespread Exposure Across Government
The Prime Minister is far from the only government official affected. According to Le Canard Enchaîné, 25 of the 36 members of the French government have had personal information circulating online as a result of cyberattacks.
The breaches stem from a variety of unlikely sources:
- Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin’s home address was exposed after her optician’s database was hacked.
- Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Hénanff — ironically, the official responsible for cybersecurity — had her bank account details from the Caisse d’Épargne de Bretagne and her social security number leaked.
- Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou’s personal phone number was found online following a Facebook data breach.
- Junior Interior Minister Jean-Didier Berger’s personal data became available due to a vulnerability at his household appliance repair service.
A Broader Pattern of Vulnerability
An investigation by Le Monde published in May found that “all regalian ministers have been affected in recent years” by cyberattacks that enabled the theft of their personal data. The phenomenon extends well beyond political figures, affecting thousands of ordinary French citizens. The August hacking of France’s tax authority served as a stark reminder that no one is immune.
The breaches highlight a troubling reality in an increasingly digitized world: personal data stored by even the most mundane service providers — an optician, a repair shop, a lingerie retailer — can become a gateway to compromising the privacy of the nation’s most powerful figures.
