In an unprecedented cyberattack, the personal data of over 33 million people in France has been compromised, marking the country’s largest data breach.
The Cybersecurity Breach: Hackers targeted two French medical insurance service providers, Viamedis and Almerys, as reported by Euronews. The breach, occurring in early February, involved the unauthorized use of logins belonging to healthcare professionals to gain access to the system.
The compromised data included sensitive information such as marital status, date of birth, social security number, and health insurance details. Notably, no bank details, medical data, postal addresses, telephone numbers, or emails were affected.
Why It’s Significant: The attack in France is the latest in a series of major cybersecurity threats. In a similar vein, JPMorgan faced a staggering 45 billion hacking attempts per day in January, raising concerns about the security of the U.S. financial system. This incident in France bolsters the growing threat of cyberattacks on a global scale.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has recently stressed the severity of cyberattack threats facing American banks, underscoring the necessity for constant vigilance. These events have prompted industry leaders, such as Satya Nadella, to call for a “Geneva Convention around cyber,” emphasizing the need for global collaboration in addressing cyber threats.