PARIS - The French Ministry of Economy and Finance said on Wednesday that the national database of bank accounts, containing information on about 1.2 million accounts, had been illegally accessed.

In a statement, the ministry said investigations by the Public Finances Directorate General found that, starting from late January, a "malicious actor" used stolen credentials belonging to an official to gain access to part of the national database.

The national bank accounts database lists all bank accounts opened with financial institutions in France and contains personal data, including bank details, the account holder's identity, address, and, in certain cases, the user's tax identification number.

Once the breach was detected, authorities immediately implemented measures to restrict access, stop the intrusion, limit the amount of data consulted or extracted, and prevent any further unauthorized access, the ministry said.

The authorities have informed banking institutions of the incident and urged them to advise clients to exercise heightened vigilance, it added.