The information system of one of the Pôle Emploi service providers was the victim of a cyberattack. Hackers have access to the surnames, first names and social security numbers of job seekers.
Be careful if you are registered with Pôle emploi! In a statement published on August 23, the organization explains that it became aware a few weeks ago “violation of the information system of one of its service providers”, namely Majorel, a company responsible for digitizing and processing documents for job seekers. An investigation is underway to find out the origin of the intrusion. The public institution confessed at the Parisian that approximately ten million people could be affected by this data leak, which includes surnames, first names and social security numbers. Particularly sensitive data, which could expose victims to future hacking, phishing or identity theft attempts. “Email addresses, telephone numbers, passwords and bank details are not affected by this leak”he adds, stating that“There is no risk on the compensation and support offered by Pôle emploi”.
Pôle emploi hacking: a service provider targeted, a complaint to be filed
The ten million people likely to be affected by this malicious cyber act could be “those registered with Pôle emploi in February 2022 and those who have ceased registration for less than 12 months on that date”details the management of Pôle emploi in Paris. “There are sometimes time lags in the transmission of documents, which explains why people in cessation of registration appear in this file”. She adds that “former users are [également] potentially affected by this theft”. The exact date of the attack has not yet been revealed. Pôle emploi has made a notification to the National Commission for Computing and Freedoms (CNIL) and has the attention to file a complaint.
“While this incident does not pose a risk to compensation or access to the pole-emploi.fr personal space, we invite you to remain vigilant in the face of any type of approach or proposal that could appear fraudulent”, writes Pôle Emploi on its website. All persons affected by the cyberattack will of course be contacted. Support will also be available via the 39 49 telephone platform to assist those who have questions on this subject.
This is not the first time that Pôle emploi has suffered a data leak. Already in June 2021, the site had been stripped of 1.2 million personal data concerning no less than 120,000 people, with the difference that, this time, the social security numbers had not been leaked…