French prime minister's mobile phone number found by hackers on underwear store

The mobile phone number of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has been circulating online, according to the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné. 

The paper reported in its edition of October 7 that other personal information about the head of government has also ended up on the internet.

From underwear order to data leak

The data appears to come from a hack in 2024 at Le Slip Français, the French underwear brand. The attack is reported to have exposed various details of around 1.5 million customers. 

Mr Lecornu, who was then defence minister, had apparently placed an order with the company that year.

The paper has not been quoted as saying how it established the link, and neither the prime minister's office nor the company is quoted in the reports.

Most of the government affected

Mr Lecornu is not alone. According to a count by the Canard Enchaîné, data belonging to 25 of the 36 members of his government is available online. The paper said it appears fairly easy to find, because some websites have gathered the leaked details together in one place.

Examples cited include:

• the home address of the armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin, after a hack at her optician in Reims

• the personal phone number of labour minister Jean-Pierre Farandou

• personal data of junior interior minister Jean-Didier Berger, following a breach at his household appliance repairer

• the social security number and bank details (held at Caisse d'Épargne) of the minister for digital affairs Anne Le Hénanff

• the professional login details of health minister Stéphanie Rist

No one is safe

Many companies / public bodies in France have been hacked recently, leaving customers' personal data exposed through no fault of their own. Even the state's own cybersecurity watchdog, Anssi, was hacked at the end of September.

In August, it was reported that over 2.1 million customer records were stolen in an attack on telephone operator SFR.