French authorities yesterday took a hard line on what presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron called a “massive” hacking attack on his campaign, warning on the eve of the vote that anyone spreading the information could be committing a crime.
The warning came after the pro-Europe centrist’s team lambasted a “massive and coordinated” hack that resulted in the online leak of thousands of e-mails, accounting details and internal documents late on Friday.
It was an unexpected 11th-hour twist ahead of today’s decisive runoff after a bruising and divisive campaign pitting the 39-year-old former banker, who embraces free trade, against his anti-EU, far-right rival Marine Le Pen.
“The dissemination of such data, which have been fraudulently obtained and in all likelihood may have been mingled with false information, is liable to be classified as a criminal offense,” France’s electoral commission said in a statement.
The documents spread on social media just before midnight as the candidates officially wrapped up campaigning, in what Macron’s team termed an attempt at “democratic destabilization, like that seen during the last presidential campaign in the United States.”
Former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton has alleged Russian hacking of her campaign’s e-mails was partly to blame for her defeat by now-US President Donald Trump in November last year.
Macron’s team said the files were stolen weeks ago when several officials from his En Marche party had their personal and work e-mails hacked — one of “an intense and repeated” series of cyberattacks targeting Macron since the launch of the campaign.
“Clearly, the documents arising from the hacking are all lawful and show the normal functioning of a presidential campaign,” Macron aides said in a statement.
However, they warned that whoever was behind the leak had mixed fake documents with real ones “in order to sow doubt and disinformation.”
WikiLeaks on Friday posted a link to the documents on Twitter, saying it had not yet discovered fakes in the cache of files and “we are very skeptical that the Macron campaign is faster than us.”
Last month, cybersecurity research group Trend Micro said a Russian hacker group called Pawn Storm had targeted Macron’s campaign, using phishing techniques to try to steal personal data.
Senior Le Pen aide Florian Philippot said on Twitter that the leak might contain information the media had deliberately suppressed.
The election watchdog advised the media not to publish details from the documents, warning that publication could lead to criminal charges and that some of the documents were probably fake.
Polls released earlier on Friday had shown Macron gaining momentum, forecasting victory for the pro-European, pro-business former banker with about 62 percent to 38 percent for Le Pen.
Macron and Le Pen — who is hoping to ride a global wave of anti-establishment anger to the Elysee Palace — have offered starkly different visions for France during a campaign that has been closely watched in Europe and around the world.
Le Pen has tried to portray Macron as being soft on security and Muslim fundamentalism, playing to the concerns of many of her supporters after a string of terror attacks in France that have killed more than 230 people since 2015.
She has said she wants to copy Britain’s example and hold a referendum on France’s EU membership, sending alarm bells ringing in capitals across the bloc.
Separately, a socialist lawmaker died after collapsing on stage during a speech at a campaign rally for Macron, party officials said yesterday.
Corinne Erhel, 50, was the last to speak at the rally on Friday in western France when she suddenly fell to the ground. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“A member of parliament since 2007, she was fully invested in her parliamentary work, while still remaining close to the people,” French President Francois Hollande said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source