La Poste, the postal service of France, announced on Monday that a significant network incident has taken all its information systems offline, affecting the digital banking and online services used by millions of customers.

The company shared on social media that this disruption has rendered several platforms temporarily unreachable, including its primary website, mobile application, digital identity service, and the Digiposte platform utilized for document storage.

While some post office branches faced service interruptions, officials assured customers that banking and postal transactions were still possible at the service counters.

“Banking customers can still make online payments with SMS authentication. Cash withdrawals from ATMs, credit card payments at retail points of sale, and transfers via WERO remain possible,” stated La Poste.

“Certain post offices may experience temporary service interruptions. Nevertheless, customers can still conduct their banking and postal transactions at the counter.”

As of this article’s publication, La Poste’s website was still offline, redirecting users to its webmail and Digiposte services.

La Banque Postale, the banking division of Groupe La Poste, also reported that its online and mobile functionalities were down but emphasized that core banking operations remained unaffected.

“Essential banking services are functioning normally. Payments, interbank transactions, and flow processing are operating without issues. Cash withdrawals at ATMs, credit card payments in stores, and WERO transfers are still accessible,” they mentioned in a statement.

“Internet and mobile card payments can still be made via SMS authentication, which replaces the previous Certicode certification process.”

Although La Poste has not yet shared a timeline for restoring full services or detailed the nature of the incident, reports from French media suggest that the outage may be related to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack impacting operations nationwide.

La Poste is a state-owned entity with over 250,000 employees, forming part of the Groupe La Poste, which oversees services from mail delivery to banking, insurance, and telecommunications.

This incident follows the recent arrest of a 22-year-old suspect linked to a cyberattack on the email servers of France’s Ministry of the Interior earlier this month.

Broken IAM isn’t just an IT issue; its effects resonate across your entire organization.

This practical guide explains why traditional IAM methods fall short in meeting modern demands, provides examples of effective IAM practices, and includes a straightforward checklist for developing a scalable strategy.

Get the guide