France Travail announces having been the target of a cyberattack, 43 million people “potentially” affected

France Travail, formerly Pôle emploi, was the victim of a computer attack, announces the public operator Wednesday March 13. The press release warns of a “disclosure risk” personal data relating to “potentially” 43 million people. France Travail specifies that “the database which would have been illegally extracted contains the personal identification data of people currently registered, of people previously registered over the last twenty years, as well as of people not registered on the list of job seekers, but having a candidate space on francetravail.fr”.

The operator cites the following exposed data: “first and last name, date of birth, social security number, France Travail identifier, email and postal addresses and telephone numbers”. However, he specifies that “passwords and banking details are not affected by this act of cyber-maliciousness. There is therefore no risk of compensation.”

According to the assistance service for victims of cyber malware, the attack took place between February 6 and March 5. A complaint was filed and France Travail reported the incident to the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties (Cnil). A preliminary investigation was also opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office.