France Travail Breach and the Potential Fallout from the Attack

Data breaches are so common today that you would be forgiven for not noticing when even major breaches happen. Cyber-attacks that impact data are everywhere, from ransomware to phishing to Business Email Compromise. From 2022 to 2023, the USA saw data breaches increase by 20%. Earlier this year, it was the turn of France’s government unemployment agency, France Travail (formerly Pôle Emploi), to suffer a massive data breach. TitanHQ looks at the breach on the agency, what might have caused the breach, and the potential fallout from the attack.

France Travail Data Breach, What Happened?

On March 13, 2024, France Travail announced that its IT systems had suffered a cyber-attack that had likely been in progress since February 6. The announcement also included an associated agency, Cap Emploi, which offers support for people with disabilities. The National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties (CNIL) believes the breach has affected 43 million people. The following personal data of France Travail and Cap Emploi users was exposed in the attack:

• Names
• Social security numbers
• Dates of birth
• France Travail IDs
• Email addresses
• Postal addresses
• Phone numbers 

The agency has been keen to state that login credentials and financial information are not at risk. The slow exfiltration of data is a typical ploy by cyber criminals to extract as much data as possible before being detected. However, how the hackers got into the system in the first place is unknown.

What is noteworthy is that this breach follows two similar data breaches, again in France. In these earlier breaches, announced by CNIL in early February 2024, Viamedis and Almerys, third-party payment providers for insurance companies, were targeted in a similar data attack. This time, 33 million people were affected. The initial cause of this earlier breach was a phishing attack targeting a health professional employee. The targeted individual was likely spear-phished for login credentials. 

Further to these cyber-attacks, the French government has released statements concerning increased cyber-attacks against government departments. One statement highlights a series of DDoS (denial of service) attacks by the Russian-affiliated hacking gang Anonymous Sudan on the government network infrastructure. 

SurfShark's Data Breach Hub tracks the number of breaches worldwide. The hub holds data on France that shows the breach rate increased by 24% between Q3 2023 and Q4 2023. France accounts for over 3% of all breaches worldwide.

From 2022 to 2023, the USA saw data breaches increase by 20%.

Phishing and Social Engineering Kick-Start Cyber-Attacks

As yet, the instigators of the massive France Travail attack are unknown. However, there is a reasonable likelihood that the sudden onslaught of attacks in France is related. Anonymous Sudan has been known to collaborate with hacking groups, including pro-Russian Killnet. Typical attacks by these hacking groups use techniques such as brute force, credential stuffing, and targeted phishing to gain initial access to a network. France Travail may have been a victim of one of the hacking gangs. If so, there is a high likelihood that the usual attack tactics will have played out in France Travail or one of its associated supply chain vendors.

In France, the breach rate increased by 24% between Q3 2023 and Q4 2023.

SurfShark's Data Breach Hub

Cybercriminals at Play After the France Travail Breach

One of the concerns after the theft of personal data on a scale such as France Travail is continued cyber-attacks using the data. Once stolen, personal data will typically be placed for sale on Dark Web marketplaces. The data is then at the mercy of cybercriminals. Post-breach data is used for various further scams, including:

Phishing: The cycle of phishing depends on leaked or stolen credentials. While France Travail did not leak credentials, email addresses, and other identifying data was stolen. These data can be used to generate phishing emails. This continues the cycle of cyber-attacks.

Synthetic Identity: The data stolen in the France Travail data breach provides a template for creating synthetic identities. Social security numbers, dates of birth, and postal addresses are ideal for cybercriminals to use to create fake IDs. These IDs are then used to perpetrate further cybercrimes, such as fraud.

Sextortion and Other Extortion Attempts: Email addresses and other personal details can be used to create extortion-related cybercrime, including sending out sextortion emails.

Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr has warned that the compromised data from the France Travail breach is being used in targeted attacks. The agency advises people to be vigilant when receiving telephone calls, emails, or SMS that could exploit the stolen personal data to carry out a phishing attempt.

How to Prevent Your Own Company from Being Breached

The France Travail and other data breaches offer insight into how to protect our own company. Here are some essential cybersecurity measures that can reduce the chance of your data being breached.

Train Employees on Cybersecurity

Perform regular security awareness training with employees. Many cyber-attacks begin with a phishing email or use social engineering on targeted employees. Both aim to manipulate an employee into inadvertently exposing login credentials. Once the cybercriminal has these credentials, they can access databases, install malware, and exfiltrate data. Teaching employees how to spot phishing emails and the importance of security hygiene reduces the likelihood of a successful phishing attack. Choose a security awareness package, like SafeTitan, that uses behavior-led training and supplied phishing simulations.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Using more than one factor to log in reduces the risk of a successful phishing attack. However, MFA can be circumvented in some situations. MFA should be considered a layer of security used with security awareness training and anti-phishing tools.

Anti-Phishing Tools

Using an anti-phishing solution is the first line of defense in preventing phishing from entering an employee's inbox. Phishing attacks, however, are increasingly multi-stage and complex. PhishTitan uses machine learning to detect malicious content, such as URLs and infected attachments. It also applies Natural Language Processing (NLP) to spot social engineering and other complex trust-based cyber-attacks.

Incident Reporting

Encourage your employees to report incidents. Microsoft researchers found that a ransomware attack can infiltrate an enterprise network in 45 minutes. It is essential that you can identify an attack before it takes hold. Make incident reporting easy for employees.