Since 20 March, several secondary and high schools have been targeted by terrorist threats sent via the Espaces numériques de travail (ENT) platform. The investigation has already progressed. On Thursday morning, March 28, two teenagers were arrested by the Office Anti-Cybercriminalité (OFAC) in Malakoff in the Hauts-de-Seine department, as reported by BFMTV. The two brothers were born in 2005 and 2007. Both were taken into police custody. While the young adult was released, the police custody of his brother, who is 17 years old and a minor, was extended on Friday March 29, BFMTV reports.
Around 130 schools were the target of terrorist-related threats. One of these messages read: “I’ve had enough of this shitty life, of you teachers and this school. So, thanks to my brothers who are determined for the Islamic State, I have decided to blow everything up (sic).” In addition to these statements, the perpetrators launched a phishing campaign in the Ile-de-France region by setting up a fake website resembling that of ENT to steal victims’ passwords, BFMTV reports.
Specifically, 74 secondary schools in Ile-de-France were targeted a week ago. The next day, further threats were made against 22 colleges in Seine-et-Marne and 11 schools in Strasbourg. Then, on Saturday, 18 collèges and lycées in the Hauts-de-France region received threats via ENT. The ENT messengers were blocked in the departments concerned. Meurthe-et-Moselle launched a campaign to reset ENT access accounts.