French Postal Giant's Breach Exposes 22 Million Patients and Tenants

A subsidiary of La Poste, France's postal service, has suffered a major data breach affecting 22 million people. The subsidiary, Maileva, handles document mailing for thousands of companies. The stolen data includes first names, last names, and postal addresses. The affected individuals are not Maileva's direct customers but are people who received documents—like payslips, medical bills, and shareholder notices—sent through its platform by client companies.

The breach impacts patients of hospitals and medical labs, as well as tenants of social housing providers, because their personal data was on documents mailed by these organizations. A hacker reportedly read the content of payment reminders, which included sensitive medical billing details. While financial data wasn't stolen, the exposure of names and addresses linked to medical treatments and housing creates significant privacy and potential fraud risks. The scale and nature of this breach highlight the cascading vulnerabilities in third-party service supply chains.