One in two French people’s data was stolen in a major cybersecurity breach - the largest ever in France - leaving 33 million at risk.

Over 33 million people in France - nearly half of its population - have been impacted by the country’s biggest-ever cyberattack.

Two French service providers for medical insurance companies were targeted, with the companies admitting that millions of people’s data were potentially exposed to the hackers.

“This is the first time there has been a breach on such a scale,” Yann Padova, a lawyer specialising in digital data protection and former Secretary General of the French data protection authority (CNIL) told French broadcaster Franceinfo on Thursday.