Norauto targeted by cyberattack, leak of 78,000 customer data

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Yet another data leak in France. A new brand was the target of a cyberattack this week. This is Norauto, a specialist in car maintenance, which saw the data of 78,000 of its customers released to the general public. The company claimed to have taken measures to stop the cyberattack and informed its customers as well as the CNIL (National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties). This episode is one of many others in recent weeks alone, calling into question the digital age while raising the challenge of protecting individuals' data. 

2024, an ordeal for cybersecurity in France 

This year alone, many institutions and companies have been exposed to cyberattacks. Each month brought its share of leaks, with, as early as January, the Simone Veil hospital in Cannes being targeted by ransomware, paralyzing its systems and compromising more than 60 GB of medical data. In February, two successive cyberattacks targeting service providers Viamedis and Almerys, specializing in third-party payment management for many complementary health insurance companies and mutual insurance companies, were announced. The result: the data of more than 33 million people was hacked.  

Shortly after, in March, France Travail was targeted by sophisticated malware, leading to the leak of thousands of personal data. Hacking has intensified since last September, with many brands targeted by cyberattacks such as Boulanger and its hundreds of thousands of customers affected, Cultura and the theft of data of 1.5 million of its customers, Truffaut, the Bayard group and the newspaper La Croix but especially telephone operators such as SFR and Free. 

A cyberattack on September 3 affected this operator's order management tool, affecting approximately 50,000 customers. The compromised data included names, first names, addresses, telephone numbers, IBANs and contractual information. At the end of October 2024, Free was also the victim of a massive cyberattack, exposing the personal data of approximately 5.1 million customers. In November, Auchan revealed that it had suffered a cyberattack that exposed the information of more than 500,000 customers, including sensitive data on their purchasing habits.  

Another brand has been added to a long list. On Tuesday, December 3, Norauto, a specialist in car maintenance, announced that it had been affected by a data leak concerning several thousand of its customers. 

78,000 customers affected 

“Norauto has been the target of an act of cybercrime. Investigations carried out by our teams working on the subject indicate that personal data specifically linked to our rental service have been targeted,” the company explains. 78,000 of its customers are affected 

As for the nature of the leaked data, it is, “depending on the case”, names, first names, email and postal addresses, telephone numbers, loyalty card numbers and especially the ID numbers provided during rentals. The company stated that it had “immediately implemented measures to stop the attack and strengthen the security of its systems”, and that it had communicated about this cyberattack, both to its customers and to the CNIL, the French personal data policeman. 

A few days earlier, an ad for the sale of data stolen from Norauto had been published on BreachForums, a cybercriminal platform. The author of the ad claimed to have had access to an administration panel of the company, also mentioning the figure of “78,000” lines of data. Its prices ranged from 50 to 200 euros.   

Situations like this are a reminder of the importance for companies to strengthen their cybersecurity. However, cyberattacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. And since no system is ever perfect, with hackers constantly trying to exploit the slightest weakness, these cyberattacks mainly give rise to questions about the danger of everything digital and the impossible guarantee of data security.  

But cyberattacks targeting institutions such as the Banque de France or the Caisse d’allocations familiales (CAF) mainly raise apprehensions about projects, both in Europe and elsewhere, for identity or central bank money (CNBM), such as the digital euro, supported by the ECB.

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