Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection: how to combat data theft?

The start of the 2023 school year was marked by a new act of cyber-maliciousness which had the effect of a bomb. Pôle Emploi has just announced that it was the victim of a massive theft of personal data through one of its service providers. The data of more than 10 million job seekers has been stolen by cybercriminals. In this context, it is more important than ever to protect your digital life using specialized tools like Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection.

Not a week goes by without a new massive data leak hitting the headlines. On August 23, it was the Pôle Emploi agency which reported to the CNIL (National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties) a violation of the information system of one of its service providers. This is the Majorel company which is responsible for digitizing and processing jobseekers’ documents.

This cyberattack involves a leak of personal data potentially concerning more than 10 million beneficiaries registered in February 2022. The attackers would have seized the names, first names, and social security numbers of the beneficiaries. According to a press release from the employment agency, neither bank details, nor email addresses, passwords, or telephone numbers would be part of the stolen information. Statements questioned by some experts who fear that this information was also impacted by the data breach.

Personal data: a windfall for cybercriminals

Bad news for beneficiaries, the stolen data was quickly put up for sale on a dark web site for the modest sum of 835 euros. Although the attack did not impact the information system and the Pôle Emploi website, the agency recommends that job seekers remain particularly vigilant. In the days, weeks or months to come, their personal information could be used for phishing attempts, extortion, harassment, or even social engineering scams.

To steal an identity, cybercriminals need to collect as much personal information as possible such as name, first name, postal address, telephone number, bank details, etc. With enough information, kidnappers can order bank cards, take out credit, withdraw money, make purchases, or even spread false information on social networks.

How to respond to a data breach?

Whether individuals, businesses, or government organizations, victims of data breaches number in the millions. The CNIL recorded 4,088 notifications of data breaches from different entities with databases in 2022 in France, and everything suggests that this figure is expected to increase significantly this year. Contrary to popular belief, most of these data leaks are not the result of human errors, but of malicious attacks. Although it is difficult to prevent data leaks, everyone can take digital hygiene measures to better protect themselves and limit their potential impact.

It is no coincidence that cybersecurity specialists like Bitdefender have made the protection of personal data one of their main priorities. The publisher has developed an online solution called Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection including different tools to manage and protect your digital identity. Accessible through the Bitdefender Central online management portal, the service continuously searches millions of public and dark web sites for traces of personal data to detect possible leaks.

To do this, simply indicate in advance on the service the personal information to be monitored: up to 5 telephone numbers (landline or mobile), and 10 email addresses. In addition to a weekly report sent by email, the service provides a remarkable dashboard allowing you to view at a glance all the information relating to the protection of your identity. Starting with an identity protection score that evolves based on data leaks detected and the measures taken over time to secure personal information. It also provides maps, graphs, comparisons with other leak victims and numerical analyzes providing complete visibility of its digital footprint. A system that is both simple and intuitive and has the advantage of being accessible to as many people as possible.

Why use Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection?

Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection provides extensive information to visualize data breaches, their origins, dates the breaches occurred, and whether the threat level is considered low or high. For each leak, the service provides different recommendations on what steps to take: change the password, enable two-factor authentication, delete the account, etc. Practical, the service can also alert users by email when someone tries to steal their identity on a social network.

Here again, the program gives various advice on the steps to follow to try to resolve problems relating to identity theft via the “Identity theft” tab of the dashboard. Another feature rarely offered by identity protection systems is data broker monitoring. These are companies that collect personal data about Internet users through various channels in order to create profiles which are then sold, generally for marketing purposes. Like any other company, they can be victims of a data leak and involve a risk of disclosure of personal information for millions of Internet users.

The dedicated “Data Brokers” menu allows users to carry out checks with these actors to find out if they hold and resell their data. When this is the case, Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection supports them to help them try to force brokers to delete their information. Used properly, Bitdefender’s tools allow you to better control your personal data online and, above all, to react in the event of a problem. Thanks to a modern graphical interface and a particularly well-designed menu, the service is very pleasant to use on a daily basis.

Special mention for the weekly reports sent by email which summarize the essential actions undertaken by the program, as well as the latest news relating to data leaks. For example, the supplier alerted its users of the data leak that occurred at Pôle Emploi. The reports also include links allowing you to log in to your account in one click to check for any new personal data leaks detected, or improve your identity protection score. The strength of this program is that it manages to encourage users to truly take charge of the protection of their data.

In addition to numerous features, Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection offers educational content to better understand the challenges of identity protection. The service notably provides access to an FAQ including numerous tips to help users implement effective proactive online protection. Technical support is also available by telephone 24/7 (in English).

Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection is natively integrated into the Premium Security Plus security suite (€69.98/year), or sold separately via an annual plan (€35.99/year), or monthly plan without commitment (€6.99/year). month).