Free victim of massive hacking: what are you at risk if your IBAN has been stolen?

Free, the second largest telephone operator in France, was targeted by a major hack, with customers starting to be informed of it from Friday evening. The names, first names, e-mail and postal addresses, dates and places of birth, telephone numbers, subscriber identifiers and contractual data of tens of thousands of customers were thus stolen, as Free indicated in an e-mail sent to its subscribers concerned.

However, according to cybersecurity engineer Clément Domingo, IBANs (for “International Bank Account Number”), a code which allows a bank account to be identified, were also stolen during this attack.

IBAN is used by individuals and businesses to facilitate transactions between multiple bank accounts. It is in particular this code which is requested by employers to pay salaries to employees. The IBAN can also be used to set up a payment method by direct debit, directly from the account, such as for a monthly subscription to a gym… or to a telephone operator.

It is advisable to monitor your accounts

Is this leak of banking data dangerous for the customers concerned? In theory, the IBAN alone does not allow cybercriminals to debit money. For a hacker to draw on the savings of a Free subscriber affected by the hack, the latter would have to have signed a direct debit mandate.

This type of transaction does not ensure 100% security of the bank accounts of victim customers, as fraudulent withdrawals exist. Moreover, if the sole disclosure of the IBAN is not a priori very dangerous, it can nevertheless become so if it is combined with the leak of other data, such as identity, telephone number, or even data. other banking information such as the BIC code.

Customers of the operator are therefore advised to remain on their guard and regularly consult their bank account. If an unusual debit is detected, it is possible to contest the fraudulent debit within thirteen months following it. The victim’s bank is, for its part, required to compensate its client by returning the stolen money.