France Travail Suffers Data Breach: 340,000 Jobseekers at Risk

France’s national employment agency, France Travail, has confirmed it suffered a data breach that may have affected 340,000 job seekers. The agency alerted users via email on July 22 after the detection of unauthorized access to its “employment” portal earlier in the month. This marks the second major cybersecurity incident for the agency in just over a year.

What Happened?

According to local news outlet Next, the French Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-FR) discovered the breach on July 12 and unauthorized access to the data was due to an infostealer attack. The compromised access point was a user account belonging to a partner organization.

Upon discovering the breach on July 13, France Travail swiftly shut down the affected services.

What Data Was Exposed?

According to the statement, the breach may have exposed the following personal data:

• Full names
• Postal and email addresses
• Phone numbers
• France Travail identifiers
• Jobseeker statuses

The agency was quick to reassure users that passwords and banking details remain uncompromised. However, they advised all affected users to watch out for phishing attempts, as attackers may try to exploit the leaked data for social engineering or scam campaigns.

"We recommend remaining vigilant regarding phishing risks," France Travail warned in its statement.

What Can Potentially Impacted individuals do?

If you're a jobseeker registered with France Travail:

• Be on high alert for unsolicited emails or calls requesting personal or financial information. Use Bitdefender free tools like Scamio and Link Checker to check for signs of scams and fraud.
• Verify any communications by directly logging into the official France Travail website.
• Consider using a password manager to update any reused passwords, even if the breach notice says passwords were not impacted.
• Enable two-factor authentication where available—especially on email accounts and sensitive services.

Incidents like this can be mitigated with tools like Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection.

Here’s what it does:

• Finds your personal data online, including in breaches or leaked files
• Sends real-time alerts if your info appears where it shouldn’t (for example, data from a publicly exposed database appears on the Dark Web)
• Gives you step-by-step guidance on what to do next
• Monitors your digital footprint continuously so you’re never caught off guard