Viamedis and Almerys, two third-party payment specialists, were victims of successive cyberattacks at the end of January. The CNIL revealed on Wednesday that this had led to the distribution of the social security numbers of almost half of French people.
Vigilance alert! This Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties (Cnil) officially announced that no less than 33 million people are affected by the massive hacking of which Viamedis and Almerys. These two operators are responsible for managing third-party payment for a number of complementary health insurance and mutual insurance companies.
The CNIL ensures that it is carrying out investigations into the data breach which affected the two operators. Concretely, the following could have been stolen, according to the CNIL: “marital status, date of birth and social security number, the name of the health insurer as well as the guarantees of the contract taken out”. However, this is not the case for any medical data or banking information.
The National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties recalls in its press release that complementary services which go through the two hacked operators have a duty to inform “individually and directly” the policyholders concerned. Everyone is therefore invited to check their email box regularly, including spam, in the coming days. Warnings can also be sent directly via the complementary health insurance website, to the personal space of policyholders. For those who are too worried, a quick call to their health insurance to ask the question directly can also be considered.
As for the risks that victims of this massive hacking run, it is above all a risk of phishing. So beware of scam emails that could redirect victims to fake sites, where they could then be asked for banking information in order to extract money from them. The CNIL therefore urges caution regarding possible requests that you may receive, and more particularly if they “concern reimbursements of health costs”. It is also recommended to “periodically check the activities and movements on your various accounts”.
