France has been hit by a massive number of cyber-attacks affecting 19,000 Internet sites in the period since last Wednesday and Friday when three terrorists killed 17 people here, including seven journalists, French media reported.
The three terrorists also died in police attacks on their hideouts, bringing to total of dead in a bloody week to 20.
"France Info" radio said in a report that the level of cyber-attacks had not before been seen in this country and some were sophisticated.
Admiral Arnaud Coustilliere, the French Cyber-Defence Czar, told the media that this kind of thing "has never happened before" and he said there was concern about such "a large wave" of cyber-attacks. Some of the attacks were attributed to Islamist groups known to the French Cyber-Defence Chief, but others were minor and targeted commercial entities, the report said.
France is on high terrorist alert in many areas including protecting the Internet from attack.
Also, around 100,000 police, Gendarmes and troops are on the streets to protect religious and cultural sites, mainly Muslim and Jewish places of worship and buildings. They are also protecting tourist sites, transport hubs and government facilities.
The drafting in of 10,500 extra troops for anti-terror duties was completed Wednesday and the operation was reviewed Thursday by Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Defence Ministry said.