France Suffers Massive Data Breach

Uploaded on 2024-03-25 in TECHNOLOGY--Hackers, GOVERNMENT-National, FREE TO VIEW

Over 50% of the French population’s personal data has been stolen in a cyber attack. A French government department, which is responsible for registering and assisting unemployed people, is the latest victim of a mega data breach that compromised the information of up to 43 million citizens.

According to France Travail and Cap Emploi, the exposed data includes the first and last names, dates of birth, social security numbers, employment agency identifiers, email and postal addresses, and their telephone numbers. However, it is understood that people’s passwords and banking details are so far still secure and have not been stolen in the cyber breach.

"Personal information concerning job seekers currently registered with France Travail, people previously registered over the last 20 years as well as people not registered on the list of applicants employment but having a candidate space on francetravail.fr is likely to be disclosed and exploited illegally," France Travail confirmed in a statement.

Both agencies said that on Wednesday 13th March they told the National Commission on Information Technology and Freedoms (CNIL), the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) and the judicial authorities.

"The security of data entrusted to us by job seekers and businesses is a constant concern for us. In view of the threat of cyber attacks which is increasingly affecting businesses and organisations at national and European level, we must continuously strengthen our protection arrangements, procedures and guidelines," Cap Emploi said.

CNIL is telling the victims to remain vigilant over the potential threat of phishing attacks, and has advised at-risk individuals to avoid opening suspect email attachments or sharing passwords and banking details.
The attackers could, the agency warned, combine data with other data stolen in previous breaches for the purposes of identity fraud.

French public services have faced a major escalation in cyber attacks in recent months, authorities have warned. Recently, sources from the French prime minister’s office told told the press that the country has been subjected to attacks of “unprecedented intensity”.

These comments came in the wake of a series of attacks on French government departments which prompted authorities to activate a ‘crisis unit’ to deal with the incident. In February, 2 French health service firms had data hacks, which affected around 33 million people. Viamedis and Almerys said the stolen data included marital status, date of birth, social security number, the name of the customer's health insurer and the guarantees of their contract.

IT Pro | The Register | France Travail | Euronews | Infosecurity Magazine

Image: Kagenmi

You Might Also Read:

Russian Hackers Make A Sustained Attack On France:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

If you like this website and use the comprehensive 6,500-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription.