French defence giant Naval Group, the manufacturer of India’s Scorpene-class submarines, has come under a major cyberattack. Hackers have claimed they accessed up to 1 terabyte of sensitive data, including the source code for the combat management and weapon systems used in submarines built by the group.
While Naval Group has not confirmed any system breach, it acknowledged the cyberattack and said it was treating the incident as a “reputational attack” amid ongoing international and commercial tensions. The hackers reportedly published 30 gigabytes of data online and threatened to release more unless the company responded within 72 hours.
The leaked files allegedly include the source code for submarine systems — an exposure that could have serious implications. Access to such code could allow adversaries to study internal algorithms, authentication methods, or even exploit security flaws, putting submarine fleets at risk globally.
Naval Group, which has delivered six Scorpene-class submarines to the Indian Navy through its partnership with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, said in an official statement that no intrusion had been detected in its IT systems as of now. It added that all resources were mobilised to analyse the authenticity, origin, and ownership of the leaked data, and that it was cooperating with the French government.
This is not the first time the company has been targeted. In 2016, over 22,000 pages of classified documents related to India’s Scorpene submarines were leaked in a similar breach, sparking major concern over India’s underwater warfare capabilities.
Apart from India, other countries operating Scorpene-class submarines include Malaysia, Indonesia, and Chile. If confirmed, this latest breach could have far-reaching implications for global naval security and international arms manufacturing supply chains.
