Azernews.Az

France remained the European country most affected by data breaches during the first half of 2026, with 43.4 million user accounts compromised, according to a new study by cybersecurity company Surfshark, AzerNEWS reports.

The report found that the number of breached French accounts increased by 62.3% compared with the second half of 2025, making France the second-most affected country globally, behind only the United States.

According to the study, France accounted for 58% of all compromised accounts recorded in Europe during the January-June period.

Globally, France and the United States together represented nearly half of the 313.4 million compromised accounts reported worldwide in the first six months of the year.

The study also found that France recorded the highest density of breached accounts relative to its population, with 69.1 million compromised accounts per population-based measure, placing it at the top of the global ranking in that category.

Surfshark noted that France has remained among the countries most exposed to cyberattacks and data breaches for more than two decades. Since 2004, approximately 756.6 million French accounts have reportedly been compromised, including 486.5 million passwords.