How can you protect yourself from the consequences of a personal data leak?

As a result of a data leak, such as the one that occurred after the unlawful intrusion into the French public finances general directorate Information System (DGFiP), the main risks for individuals are attempted fraud. This can happen through:

• messages (sending a fraudulent email or SMS);
• or phone calls (some fraudsters may, for example, pose as your bank advisor).

These messages or calls may seem credible to you, because your interlocutor mentions certain personal data recovered through the leak (your name and surname, your tax ID, your postal or telephone details, your email address, etc.).

You can strengthen your digital security, and thus limit the consequences of a data leak, by adopting some good practices. For example, it is recommended to:

• choose passwords that are long and complex enough, for example, by following the advice of the CNIL ;
• avoid using the same password for different sites and platforms;
• update your software, applications and devices as soon as it is proposed to you, in order to correct any security breaches;
• enable, where possible, dual authentication (if someone logs into your account from an unidentified device, the site notifies you by SMS or email and you can then authorize or deny access);
• be wary of unsolicited emails, text messages or phone calls (in any case, you must never provide your codes, credentials, passwords or bank details in response to a solicitation);
• always check the sender of a message, and pay attention to links and attachments (if in doubt, do not click on them);
• type yourself in your web browser the official address of a site, rather than clicking on a link sent to you by email.

You can find the different steps to take if you are the victim of a personal data leak, on a sheet made available by the Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr platform.

In general, it is also recommended, to protect you on the internet:

• avoid publishing some of your personal data, or that of your acquaintances;
• check the privacy settings of your accounts (social networks, online games, mobile apps, online services, etc.), to determine what may or may not be visible to others;
• install of applications only from the official websites or shops of publishers;
• consider regularly backing up your digital data on another medium (usb stick, external hard drive, cloud, etc.), so that you can recover them in case of problems.

In addition, you can ask an organization for the erasure of personal data concerning you (an embarrassing photo on a website, information collected by an organization that you consider unnecessary, etc.); you can do this especially if this data is subject to illicit processing (pirated data, etc.).