Macron Rushes to Shore Up French Cyber Defenses After Attacks

President Emmanuel Macron said the importance of cybersecurity was brought into focus by recent cyberattacks on two French hospitals, as he announced plans to bolster France’s defenses and inaugurate a cybersecurity center in Paris to showcase the country’s expertise.

The ransomware attacks on the hospitals -- in Villefranche-sur-Saone in central France and in Dax in the south west -- crippled information systems and put the hospitals in a position of “vulnerability,” Macron said during a press conference on Thursday after speaking with hospital officials.

Such attacks pre-date the pandemic but Macron said hackers have been more active in recent weeks ...