France Travel victim of cyber attack, data of 43 million people at risk

France Travel (formerly Pôle Employe) was the target of a cyber attack threatening the personal data of 43 million people, the public body announced on Wednesday 13 March.

“The illegally extracted database includes personal identification data of currently registered people, people previously registered in the last 20 years as well as people not registered in the list of jobseekers but with a candidate position on francetravail.fr »A press release mentions France Travel. “So potentially 43 million people have their personal data exposed”Adds the organization.

There is relevant data “Last Name, First Name, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, France Travel Identifier, Email and Postal Address and Telephone Number”Further it mentions the institution which ensures that there is none “No risk on return”Passwords and banking details are not affected.

open investigation

There was an attack “Between February 6 and March 5” But was just discovered “this week” Followed by France Travel “Suspicious Requests” on its database. The beginning of this event” Cap Employee Advisors Identity Theft »Organization responsible for job search for people with disabilities.

The operator declares to have “Complaint filed with judicial authorities” and reported the incident to the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties, as required by law in the event of a personal data breach. The investigation was opened by the department specializing in cybercrime of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office and assigned to the brigade for the fight against cybercrime (BL2C), a specialized judicial police unit of the police prefecture.

A simple complaint form, open to anyone concerned, has been posted online.

The attack comes just weeks after third-party payment providers for mutual insurance companies were compromised, during which very similar data was compromised. Hackers may have seized the data of 33 million people, though the final toll is unknown.

Take some precautions

Even if banking data did not appear to be affected by the attack against France Travel, the data stolen by hackers could be used to make certain attacks more credible and therefore more dangerous. Aigrefins, for example, can use names, postal addresses and dates of birth to pose as banking advisers to potential victims.

Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, an organization providing assistance to individuals and small businesses in the event of hacking “Recommends being particularly vigilant in the face of any telephone call or message (email, SMS) that may use your compromised personal data to credibly target a scam or phishing attempt”.