A cybercriminal group, ZeroBytes, claims a massive data breach tied to France’s Ministry of National Education, alleging the theft of about 43 gigabytes of data covering millions of pupils, staff, and related records from the early 2000s through July 2026.

The breach follows a prior intrusion into the tax authority’s database and is part of a series of attacks claimed by the same group.

Sample data published by ZeroBytes, reviewed by Le Monde, reportedly contains extensive personal details of students and parents, including addresses, emails, and phone numbers, as well as student options and teacher assessments; some files also include home addresses and personal emails of teachers in the Créteil academy.

Translation: The situation remains unresolved despite meetings, signaling ongoing risk to administrative and teaching activities during preparations for the new school year.

The Ministry says preventive access suspensions were imposed to bolster security and that services are being progressively restored across academies as remediation continues.

In Toulouse, access to emails and professional applications remains cut, while Nantes has only partial mail access; full restoration is expected within about two weeks, with class timetables distributed on paper.

Overall, the rentrée is tense due to cyber disruptions, but authorities aim to return to normalcy while continuing reforms and tackling pay, morale, and staffing challenges.

FSU Pays de la Loire union noted on August 27, 2026, that the September 1 rentrée will go ahead without functional digital tools for staff.

FSU Pays de la Loire has warned for months about the fragility of cyber resilience in the education network and its impact on operations.

Investigators warn about phishing and identity theft risks, questioning the robustness of network defenses and the speed and effectiveness of the response.

Impacts include inability to contact families, enroll students, generate class lists, manage timetables, and issue cafeteria cards, with heightened risk for collèges and high schools and potential payroll delays for new hires and contractors.

Public statements indicate that affected individuals will be informed individually if more data is found involved, with guardians notified if students are affected, under a broader security reinforcement plan for the ministry’s information systems.