Hacked health data: how to know if you are one of the 33 million French people affected

Barthélémy Philippe / Photo credit: JEAN-MARC BARRERE / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 3:59 p.m., February 8, 2024

A cyberattack that directly affects more than one in two French people. More than 33 million social security policyholders with third-party payment operators Viamedis and Almerys were directly affected by a hack that occurred at the end of January. “The data concerned are, for the insured and their family, the marital status, the date of birth and the social security number, the name of the health insurer as well as the guarantees of the contract subscribed,” specified in a press release the CNIL, the policeman of digital privacy, adding that banking information, medical data or health reimbursements “would not be affected”. 

Data that can be used for scam attempts

To find out if you are one of the 33 million French people, several solutions exist. The easiest way is to quickly contact your mutual insurance company to find out if it goes through one of the two hacked operators. You can also connect to the Resopharma.fr website which allows you to check whether your supplementary insurance is affected. 

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In any case, the CNIL has asked mutual insurance companies to personally and directly inform all their customers, which could however take some time. In all cases, vigilance must prevail. According to the CNIL, stolen civil status data and social security numbers can be used in scam attempts such as phishing. In the coming weeks, if you receive emails inviting you to provide medical information or banking data, there is only one instruction to follow: do not respond under any circumstances.