A French-language global television network regained control of one of its 11 channels Thursday after a cyberattack a day earlier crippled its broadcasts and social media accounts.
Television network TV5Monde was gradually regaining control of its channels and social media outlets after suffering what the network’s director called an “extremely powerful cyberattack.”
In addition to its 11 channels, TV5Monde lost control of its social media outlets and its websites, director Yves Bigot said in a video message posted later on Facebook.
On a mobile site that was still active, the network said it was “hacked by an Islamist group.” ISIS logos and markings appeared on TV5Monde social media accounts.
But there was no immediate claim of responsibility by ISIS or any other group.
French officials promise 500 new jobs to fight cybercrime
French officials condemned the attack Tuesday and pledged to take strong measures to combat such crimes.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said his department would create 500 new jobs, including some for technicians specializing in fighting cybercrime.
“So there is a complete mobilization on the technological, legal and human levels,” he said.
And the country’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, called the attack the work of terrorists, adding that it was “an attack on a new scale” and urging all TV networks to be on guard.
“All measures are being implemented, both at the judicial and technical level, and an investigation is underway,” Fabius said.
Some channels, parts of network’s website still down
On Thursday, the network said it had regained the use of one of its 11 channels and its Facebook page, Paul Germain, the chain’s editor in chief, told BFMTV, a CNN affiliate in France.
However, on Thursday afternoon, a number of pages on the network’s website still bore only messages saying they were under maintenance. The outage began around 8:45 p.m. Paris time (2:45 p.m. ET) on Wednesday.
TV5Monde offers round-the-clock entertainment and news programming that reaches 260 million homes worldwide, according to the Ministry of Culture and Communications.
It functions under a partnership among the governments of France, Canada and Switzerland, as well as the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Other networks that provide content to TV5Monde include CNN affiliates France 2 and France 3, France 24 and Radio France International.
