France victim of travel cyber attack, 43 million people “potentially” affected
France Travel announced on Wednesday that it was the target of a cyber attack, with a “risk of disclosure” of personal data “potentially” affecting 43 million people. According to the public operator (formerly Polle Emploi), “the database that may have been illegally extracted contains personal identification data of people currently registered, people previously registered in the last twenty years, and people not registered in the list. Job seekers but have a candidate position on francetravail.fr”.
The organization wrote in its press release that it therefore, “potentially”, had “personal data of 43 million people exposed”.
“Identity theft” at the core of cyber attacks.
The attack, which also concerned Cap Employe (the organization in charge of job searches for people with disabilities) was “not connected to a priority” that targeted several ministries since Sunday evening, France said.
The operation began with “copying cap employee advisories”, the operator continued, following which France Travel “noticed suspicious requests”. The attack took place “between February 6 and March 5” and was discovered by France Travel “this week”.
“No risk on compensation” for those exposed.
The operator announced that it had “filed a complaint with the judicial authorities”. “The initial investigation was opened by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office and assigned to the cybercrime brigade of the Paris Judicial Police Department, which has established a simple complaint system for those concerned,” the press release clarifies. .
France Travel adds that “subject to technical checks, personal identification data is as follows: first and last name, date of birth, social security number, France Travel identifier, email and postal addresses and telephone numbers”. The operator guarantees that “there is no risk to the refund”, passwords and banking details are not affected.