The French Football Federation (FFF) has confirmed a significant cybersecurity incident resulting in the theft of personal data belonging to members and licensees.
The federation revealed that cybercriminals had infiltrated the centralized administrative software used by football clubs across the country to manage memberships and daily operations.
According to the disclosure, the breach was not the result of a software vulnerability, but rather unauthorized access obtained through a compromised user account.
This compromised credential granted the attackers administrative privileges, allowing them to navigate the system and exfiltrate sensitive databases before the intrusion was halted.
Scope of the Stolen Data
While the FFF has stated that the breach is limited to specific data sets, the information exposed is highly sensitive personally identifiable information (PII). The federation confirmed that the attackers accessed and stole the following details regarding club members:
- Full names (First and Last)
- Date and place of birth
- Gender and Nationality
- Postal addresses and Email addresses
- Telephone numbers
- License numbers
The exposure of this specific data combination creates a “full identity” profile for affected individuals, significantly increasing the risk of identity theft and targeted social engineering attacks.
Upon detecting the unauthorized activity, the FFF security teams took immediate defensive action. The compromised administrator account was disabled to cut off access, and a mandatory password reset was enforced across the entire software platform to prevent attackers from laterally moving.
In compliance with French law and GDPR requirements, the FFF has filed a formal complaint regarding the criminal act. They have also notified the relevant regulatory authorities, specifically the National Cybersecurity Agency of France (ANSSI) and the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL).
The federation is currently communicating directly with all individuals whose email addresses were found in the exfiltrated database.
The FFF has issued a strong advisory to all licensees to remain vigilant against phishing attempts. Security experts warn that threat actors often use stolen PII to craft convincing emails or SMS messages that appear to come from official sources—in this case, the FFF or a local club.
Members are advised to treat any communication requesting banking details, passwords, or urging the opening of attachments with extreme suspicion.
The federation emphasized that it is constantly strengthening security measures to cope with the “increasing number and new forms of cyberattacks” targeting the sports sector.
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