Pôle emploi has opened an investigation after a hacker claimed a week ago to have stolen the personal data of 1.2 million people on the platform of the public body.

The publication on a forum of the hacker wishing to sell this data has now disappeared.

The message mentioned the number of Internet users affected by the leak and specified that the operation had taken place in France and had targeted pole-emploi.fr, indicates

Liberation

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The daily reported on Wednesday that it had contacted four of the individuals in the data sample shared by the cybercriminal.

All the people questioned are supported by Pôle emploi and have confirmed the authenticity of the information contained in the file about them.

Journalist Olivier Laurelli, one of the first to spot the security leak, estimated that the data came from the Pôle Emploi app, and not from the website.

"It might come out"

"I am not sure, but given the structure, the fact that there are locations, which is specific to mobile applications, I tend to favor this hypothesis," commented the specialist.

Among the information communicated by the hacker to prove his hacking, we find the names, first names, postal code, town, age, email address and mobile phone number of some victims.

The list also contains their level of education, their possible possession of a driver's license and a car, as well as the professional field of their job search.

This last detail is indicated via a “ROME” code, a nomenclature created by Pôle emploi.

These particularities of the stolen data could constitute a confirmation that their source is indeed the organization helping job seekers.

The disappearance of the publication marketing the file does not necessarily mean that the data will ultimately not be sold.

"It may be somewhere else, maybe in a while, but it may come out", analyzed Baptiste Robert, specialist in cybersecurity.

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